Derby County secured a brilliant 3-1 victory over Brentford as an impressive display earned its rewards.
Harry Wilson cancelled out an early goal by Henrik Dalsgaard with his first goal in a Derby shirt before a solid team performance saw David Nugent hand the Rams the lead and a Mason Mount free-kick sealed the victory.
The third-placed Brentford have had a great start to the season with Dean Smith’s side only tasting one defeat in eight.
It took less than a minute for the Bees to take the lead when Mohamed Benrahma whipped a corner into the area and Dalsgaard rose highest to nod into the top right corner. That was the last sight of the goal they would see for the rest of the half, however.
From that moment on, Derby clamped down and prevented Brentford from playing their way. In a battle of high-possession, attacking football the Rams certainly came out on top. On and off the ball, they worked spectacularly to wear down the Bees.
It could have looked like Derby were in for another frustrating night of plenty of chances without the rewards as Wilson had a shot palmed away and Mount sent another over inside ten minutes. But soon the goals began to pour in.
It was another corner by Benrahma that set up the Rams’ equaliser after 14 minutes. The Bees wideman played the corner short and in swooped Mount to steal it away. The 19-year-old played it down the left flank to Wilson who then found Bryson out wide the other side. Wilson charged forward for Bryson to slip the ball past Josh McEachran to Wilson to seal his first Rams goal.
Five minutes later and the Rams took the lead when Bradley Johnson lobbed a great ball down to Nugent. The Derby frontman flicked it over both his marker, Julian Jeanvier and ‘keeper Daniel Bentley straight into the back of the net.
Within a matter of three minutes, Mount got the opportunity to try his luck from two free-kicks in a great position. He saw his first saved but for his second, Bentley had no chance. It was great work by Wilson again to be awarded the free-kick when his superb run was ended by Chris Mepham, who picked up a yellow card, just outside the area. Mount stepped up to take and it curled beautifully in.
The Rams took the 3-1 lead into the break and came out the other side just as impressively. Mason Bennett, still looking for his first goal of the season following assists to two last gasp winners, almost got the second-half flying quickly. Mount made a good run up the centre of the pitch but his shot deflected back to Bryson who found Bennett on the right, but the 22-year-old’s shot was too high.
It was another academy product, Jayden Bogle, who got close to adding to the lead next. On two occasions, the young full-back battled his way through traffic in the box but both times he ran out of space to get off a shot.
Following his second attempt, the Bees produced their biggest example of a threat since their opening goal straight down at the other end. Ollie Watkins attempted to fling in a cross as the rest of the field tried to catch up, but Richard Keogh got his body in the way to deny his efforts.
Wilson had an opportunity to double his tally when he was played the ball inside the left of the area. He had only the ‘keeper to beat but his shot was short of the goal from the tight angle.
The last chance for the Rams to extend the lead came from former Brentford player, Florian Jozefzoon who had just come in to replace Bennett. However, his shot went over. Derby had already succeeded in shutting down the Bees and took the 3-1 victory.
On an afternoon where it is difficult to pick out a standout player, Craig Bryson was exceptional in the midfield. He was in and amongst all of the action as he raked up the miles sprinting around the pitch.
His relentlessness was vital in shutting down Brentford and preventing them from playing their way. With the Bees' reputation of holding on to possession, Bryson typified the importance of hard-work off the ball. It was also his patient, unselfish assist that helped open the scoring.
Frank Lampard’s side will switch their attention briefly to the Carabao Cup when they travel to face Manchester United at Old Trafford for the third-round clash. The Rams will then head North again on Saturday to face Bolton in the Sky Bet Championship fixture.
Derby County: Carson; Bogle, Keogh (C), Tomori, Forsyth; Bryson, Johnson; Bennett (Jozefzoon, 74), Mount, Wilson (Malone, 82); Nugent (Marriott, 76)
Unused Subs: Roos, Wisdom, Waghorn, Huddlestone,
Brentford: Bentley; Dalsgaard, Jeanvier, Mepham, Barbet; MacLeod (C) (Yennaris, 76), McEachran (Mokotjo, 65); Benrahma (Canos, 64), Sawyers, Watkins; Maupay
Unused Subs: Daniels, Odebajo, Judge, Konsa
