3/1 To Win
Kemar Roofe's superb brace helped Leeds United to a 4-1 win against Derby County at Pride Park Stadium.
After Mateusz Klich and Tom Lawrence exchanged goals early on, the former Oxford United man produced an excellent header to put his side in front, before making it three in the second half.
Ezgjan Alioski completed the scoring with another header as the Rams pressed for a way back into the game.
Mason Mount stabbed an effort just wide early on after good work from debutant Martyn Waghorn in the right-hand channel, but it was the visitors who took the lead after five minutes.
Klich opened the scoring on the opening day for Marcelo Bielsa’s side and he repeated the trick, curling home brilliantly from outside the penalty area.
Lawrence grabbed the headlines with an outstanding winner against Reading but just seven minutes after Leeds took the lead, he added another stunner to equalise.
His long-range free-kick swirled in the air and the power took it beyond the efforts of Bailey Peacock-Farrell in the Leeds goal, but the Rams were only level for 10 minutes.
Alioski was quiet out wide but he provided the moment from which Leeds re-took the lead; landing a superb cross onto the head of Roofe, who guided the ball into the net.
Derby pressed hard towards the end of the half but Samuel Saiz was proving particularly tricky to handle, with Joe Ledley and Richard Keogh picking up bookings for a pair of challenges on the Spaniard.
The home side created a clear opening immediately after the break with Harry Wilson feeding Mount, but he dragged his shot just wide of the post as well as Waghorn’s late run.
Leeds took the game away from the Rams just after the hour mark, with Roofe firing high into the roof of the net after a neat turn away from his man.
Alioski made it four moments later, despite Carson getting a hand to his header after the ball in from the right.
Derby County: Carson; Wisdom, Keogh, Tomori, Lowe; Bryson, Ledley (Johnson, HT), Mount (Bennett, 74’); Wilson (Jozefzoon, 61’), Waghorn, Lawrence.
Unused Substitutes: Roos, Pearce, Forsyth, Marriott.
Leeds United: Peacock-Farrell; Ayling, Berardi, Cooper, Douglas; Saiz (Baker, 86'), Phillips, Klich (Shackleton, 73’); Hernandez, Roofe (Bamford, 79'), Alioski.
Unused Substitutes: Blackman, Jansson, Harrison, Roberts.
Who Impressed…
Lawrence provided the magic for the Rams as the won dramatically on the opening night and once against the Wales international looked most likely to make something happen.
His free-kick from range that brought Derby level was a thing of beauty and it’s a technique that we’ve seen before with the winner against Preston North End last season.
Next Up…
The Rams are back in action on Tuesday, when they will face Oldham Athletic in Round One of the Carabao Cup, kick-off: 7:45pm.
Derby then go back on the road to take on Millwall in the Championship on Saturday, kick-off: 3pm.
