The game had huge coverage in the media today and rightly so – this was a massive game for Derby. Not only were they facing one of the biggest clubs in the World nor was it the furthest they’ve progressed in the League Cup for over 40 years but the new manager Nigel Clough was watching before taking the reigns on Thursday.

The first half was quite a level affair. Derby looked strong with several chances on goal while Man Utd struggled to conjure up any special chances.

It was in the 30th minute when the magic happened – Kris Commons managed to collect a ball from Mile Sterjovski, ran on to Man Utd’s defence, whacking a beauty of a strike into the far corner from 25 yards. Derby took the lead 1-0 and held that score for the entire first half with little to worry about from Man Utd.

In the second half, it was Man Utd who upped the ante but struggled to create anything special. They were the stronger side for a lot of the half but Derby still pushed on with quite a few spurts of energy, really pushing the Man Utd defence at times.

There was even an opportunity for Rob Hulse to take Derby 2-0 up on the break from a Man Utd challenge but it was knocked over the bar by Roy Carroll during one of his few required efforts.

Cristiano Ronaldo nearly converted a free kick for United in the second half but went a few inches wide to the Rams fan’s delight.

The “shock” win couldn’t have come at a better time – no doubt the presence of our next manager guided the team to their first leg victory. With two of our strongest players not even present and such a fantastic performance, Clough is probably glad he made the decision to leave Burton Albion at the weekend.

The return leg at Old Trafford is on Tuesday 20th January, kicking off at 7.45pm and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports 1. We don’t need to tell you to tune in, do we?

After beating Stoke at the Britannia Stadium in a gruelling yet rewarding quarter-final last week, Derby were on a high. They have not reached the semi-final stages of the League Cup since 1968 – 40 years ago – you can imagine the elation from the squad after such a nail-biting finish.

So when the draw for the Semi Finals were announced on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday this weekend, you can imagine the exhilieration from Pride Park when they saw Manchester United picked to travel to Pride Park for the first leg.

The first clash will happen on the week commencing January 5th, 2009, dependent on other fixtures but having the upper hand of starting at home will certainly give Derby that much needed support. Thousands and thousands of Ram fans will be packing out Pride Park to see their heroes take on Alex Ferguson’s mighty United, in vein hope of a worthy result.

Ticket information will be announced soon so keep your eyes and ears open for the big sale.

Update: the fixtures have been finalised today: the first leg will be at 7.45pm on Wednesday 7th January 2009 and the return leg at Old Trafford on Tuesday 20th January 2009, kicking off at the slightly later 8pm. The League Cup Final will be held at Wembley on Sunday 1st March 2009.

Derby have been on a good run over the last four games, mostly drawing but at least with the teams who are heading up the Championship this season.

So with BBC Radio Five Live Extra covering the game when there were numerous Champions League qualifiers simultaneously being played, the media obviously thought it would be an interesting result from two relegatees from the Premiership last season.

Unfortunately, activity was rather limited.

Derby keeper Roy Carroll saved a strong effort from Mehdi Nafti in the first minute, denying the travellers an early lead.

But in the 26th minute, Birmingham’s Quincy Owusu-Abeyie fired in a worthy shot to take the Blues into a lead for the majority of the game.

Miles Addison and Paul Green were the only efforts for Derby that looked to take the home side level but the deadlock was finally broken in the 87th minute when Steve Davies fired home a late goal to give Derby their 5th game unbeaten.

After the 1-1 draw at Swansea earlier in the week, Derby were hoping to progress against travelling Cardiff at Pride Park this weekend.

It was looking good in the first half. Cardiff put up a good fight as they always do but it was Derby defender Martin Albrechtsen who broke the deadlock, firing home a belter in the 30th minute.

On resuming the match after half time, Cardiff pushed even harder and managed to get level in the 67th minute when Joe Ledley was fouled in the penalty area by Miles Addison, giving Ross McCormack the easy task of slotting in a penalty.

It was another strong performance from Derby and a huge improvement on the side we got used to last season but it’s a shame we’ve still only got one win out of seven games. At least the points are trickling in this season though.