Derby County’s Under-23s tasted a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their first away fixture of the 2017/18 Premier League 2 - Division 1 season on Friday evening.
Reece James’ goal just after the hour mark put the hosts ahead, before Luke McCormick rounded off the scoring in added time.
Derby, playing their second game inside a week after losing 3-2 to Arsenal at St George’s Park on Monday evening, also had to play out the latter stages with ten-men after Calum Macdonald was sent off for a second bookable offence.
The game saw first-team duo George Thorne and Jason Shackell get match time under their belts following lengthy spells out of action due to injury.
Thorne was playing his first game since breaking his leg against Ipswich Town in May 2016, while Shackell got his first run-out since February after undergoing back surgery.
Thorne played 45 minutes, as planned, while Shackell got an hour under his belt as the duo made significant strides towards returning to first-team contention.
Despite the hosts starting on the front foot, Derby created the first chance on goal after the ball fell to Shackell’s feet at the far post from a corner. Chelsea had bodies on the line, though, to snuff out his shot and the pressure was quickly relieved.
Minutes later, Shackell showed his defensive qualities at the other end of the pitch as he made a late and vital sliding-tackle inside the six-yard box to clear the danger as Chelsea piled on the pressure.
Possession was heavily contested in the first-half and the only real chance fell to Derby’s Kellan Gordon on 43 minutes when he let fly from the edge of the box, forcing Marcin Bulka into an instinctive save in the Chelsea goal.
After a goalless first period, the hosts broke the deadlock with the first clear chance of the second half after 64 minutes when James’ deflected shot from inside the area found its way into the back of the net beyond the reach of Kelle Roos in the Derby goal.
With around 10 minutes of the contest remaining, Derby had two chances to get back onto level terms.
The first chance fell to substitute Luke Thomas at close-range but another impressive save from Bulka denied the former Cheltenham Town man, before Emil Riis Jakobsen saw his shot blocked into the bar by McCormick.
Derby’s task was made even more difficult late on as Macdonald was dismissed for his second booking of the evening for a handball offence, forcing Darren Wassall’s side to see out the game with ten men.
Deep into injury time, McCormick made the most of Chelsea’s one-man advantage with a quick break into the box before slotting the ball past Roos.
Chelsea U23: Bulka, Sterling, James, Colley, Ampadu, Sammut (C) (Houghton, 61), Christie-Davies, McCormick, Hudson-Odoi, Maddox (Muheim, 62), Dasilva (Grant, 75)
Substitutes not used: Brown, Russell
Derby County U23: Roos, Stabana, Macdonald, Thorne (Bateman, 46), Wassall, Shackell (Cover, 61), Gordan, Elsnik (C), Jakobsen, Babos, Zanzala (Thomas, 73)
Substitutes not used: Barnes, Karic,
Major Moment…
After finding their way back into the game after going behind just after the hour, Derby were pushing for an equaliser late on.
And with 84 minutes on the clock, Jakobsen thought he had Derby back level – but his shot was blocked onto the crossbar and Chelsea cleared the danger.
If that had gone in, who knows what the final five minutes would have been like…
Who Impressed…
Energy throughout this fixture was clear from Darren Wassall’s side and persistence down the wings from the likes of Offrande Zanzala and Kellan Gordon was key, particularly in the first half.
At the back, though, the experiecned Jason Shackell was instrumental in keeping things organised and solid - making him our standout player as he made his comeback from a lengthy spell out with a back injury.
Next Up…
Darren Wassall’s side should not lose any heart from back-to-back losses against top sides in Arsenal and Chelsea in their first two games of the season.
The Under-23s have had two difficult assignments to start the campaign and they will be hoping to pick up their first points of the campaign next Friday night at Pride Park Stadium when they face Sunderland.