Derby County Under-23s sailed to a 8-1 victory over Bristol City in the Premier League Cup at Loughborough University Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Cameron Cresswell opened the scoring for Darren Wassall’s side and went on to add another two in the second-half after Jayden Mitchell-Lawason had already bagged his hat-trick in the first-half.
Josh Shonibare added to other goal for the Rams and has scored in each of the last three Premier League Cup matches for the Rams.
Derby have won their last four matches in Group F of the competition and the latest against the Robins moved them ahead of Aston Villa in the table, though Villa are still to play their final fixture.
The Rams dominated possession in the opening minutes and it was just a matter of time until the goals began to pour in.
The first came after just nine minutes when captain Max Bird sent a ball through to Mitchell-Lawson in the area. The speedy winger took his time before he unselfishly found Cresswell across the goal for the forward to slot in with his first touch and begin the onslaught.
Derby kept up their suffocating pressure and that almost lead to a second goal moments later when Shonibare’s powerful header from Calum Macdonald’s cross from the left was tipped over.
Two more goals did come in the space of two minutes. First, Mitchell-Lawson turned from provider to scorer when a perfectly weighted long-ball from Efe Ambrose, in his first appearance in a Rams shirt, found the wideman who coolly slotted in at the near post.
Ambrose was in the mix again for the third goal when he broke forward down the middle. A quick pass to Louie Sibley then found the feet of Shonibare who did well to beat his marker and fire a low effort past Will Buse.
Sibley and Mitchell-Lawson linked up again to extend the lead to four. The young midfielder shrugged off his man to find Mitchell-Lawson who found space in the area to rifle in his second.
His third came in the final minutes of the half and again Sibley was the man to set him up by playing him through in the area. The 19-year-old then took the ball around Bristol’s ‘keeper to find the back of the net.
Following the break, Cresswell added his second with a fantastic finish that he smashed into the back of the net after controlling down a pinpoint pass from Max Bird.
However, the visitors pulled one back a minute later when Sam Pearson cut inside for Bell to fire past Henrich Ravas.
With just over ten minutes to play, Alex Babos was brought down in the area and was awarded a penalty which Cresswell calmly converted.
He wasn’t done yet though and added a fourth when he raced on to a long-ball by Rowan Roache and fired in the Rams’ eighth and final goal of the game.
Derby County: Ravas, Gordon, Macdonald, Bird (C), Bateman, Ambrose (Roache, 61), Mitchell-Lawson, Sibley (Wassall, 45), Cresswell, Babos, Shonibare (Eyoma, 45)
Unused Subs: Barnes, Karic
Bristol City: Buse, Turner-Williams, Soady (C. Pearson, 45), Spark (C), Ali, S. Pearson, Richards, Rees, Bell, Towler
Unused Subs: Robertson, Conway, Williams
