MATCH REPORT: Derby County 0-1 Sheffield United

Derby County succumbed to a 1-0 defeat against promotion-chasing Sheffield United in the Sky Bet Championship at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

After a hard-fought and goalless first half, Ben Brereton Diaz gave the Blades the lead in the 49th minute.

United held onto their lead to maintain their status in the second automatic spot in the league table and leave Derby for nothing to show for their efforts.

Key Moments

United's Tom Cannon had the first shot on target of the game within the first minute, but he couldn’t muster the power to trouble goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström and he collected the effort.

Blades striker Rhian Brewster tried a speculative effort from range that spun through the legs of Derby’s defence but didn’t deceive Zetterström who got down fast to make the save.

Lars-Jorgen Salvesen and Kayden Jackson linked up together to give Jackson two shots in quick succession as Derby looked to show their threat down the right flank. The Norwegian striker teed up Jackson to shoot from the edge of the penalty area, but both attempts were blocked by a United defender.

Kenzo Goudmijn tried for an audacious strike from 25 yards out when he struck a volley on the spin and sent the ball towards goal in the 20th minute, but Blades goalkeeper Michael Cooper was alive to the danger and made the save.

Goudmijn looked to be the creator four minutes later as he played a curving ball over the top of the defence from the inside-left that Salvesen headed on target .However, Cooper confidently quelled the chance.

Brewster came close for the visitors in the 28th minute when he struck right-back Harry Clarke’s squared ball - he saw the ball whip around the wrong side of the post and go narrowly wide.

Derby had multiple chances as they strung a tidy attack together down the left wing on the half-hour mark. Goudmijn and David Ozoh linked up to play Yates in behind. The striker’s attempted cross was deflected to the edge of the box for Ozoh to hit first time, but the midfielder’s effort was denied Hamza Choudhury’s block in front of the goal.

Head Coach Paul Warne made Derby’s first change of the game at half-time as Ryan Nyambe was replaced by Marcus Harness, with the game goalless at the break.

The visitors opened the scoring just after the break as Brereton Diaz tapped home at the far post after Cannon’s drilled ball across the box found the striker in space to finish.

The Rams looked for a quick response as Goudmijn played a high ball towards the far post from the left wing that Salvesen headed back towards the middle, but the ball couldn’t find a Derby body to use the chance.

A prolonged spell of possession resulted in Goudmijn heading just over the crossbar in the 57th minute. Osborn played in the delivery after Salvesen and Harness worked to create the chance.

Liam Thompson entered the field as the Rams’ next change in the 67th minute as Ozoh went the other way. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing came on next, with Jackson departing. Osborn came close for Derby after Ebou Adams found Thompson on the left wing to cross into the box and Osborn struck Jack Robinson’s clearance towards goal - the effort was blocked on the goal line.

Tom Barkhuizen was Derby’s final change of the match, as the Rams were pushing for an equaliser with ten minutes of regulation time to go.

Barkhuizen struck towards goal when Mendez-Laing found him in space to shoot at the far post in the 85th minute, but a Blades defender got in the way to win a corner.

Matt Clarke met the delivery as he rose highest in the box as Derby came close as the clock ticked down, but he saw the ball whistle just over the bar.

Derby pushed forward in five minutes of added time, but the Blades held on for all three points.

The Teams

Derby County: Zetterström (GK), Nyambe (Harness 46), Clarke, Forsyth, Adams, Ozoh (Thompson 67), Goudmijn (Barkhuizen 80), Osborn (C), Jackson (Mendez-Laing 74), Salvesen, Yates.

On The Bench: Vickers (GK), Cox, Rooney, Allen, Wheeldon.

Sheffield United: Cooper (GK), Burrows, Clarke, Ahmedhodžić, Robinson (C), Souza, Choudhury, O’Hare (Campbell 61), Brereton Diaz (Rak-Sakyi 61), Brewster (McCallum 75), Cannon (Peck 78).

On The Bench: Davies (GK), Gilchrist, Norrington-Davies, Brooks, Oné.

Referee: Tom Nield

Assistant Referees: Jonathan Hunt, Darren Williams