Derby County travelled to London to take on Fulham at Craven Cottage as part of the second leg of their Championship playoffs semi-final tie. The Rams were looking to maintain a 1-0 advantage from the first-leg. The away team sat back in the first half and defended valiantly to keep the Cottagers’ attack at bay. They managed to go into half-time without conceding a goal, much to the delight of Gary Rowett.
However, the Rams made a sloppy start to the second half and conceded the opener when Ryan Sessegnon’s scored with an emphatic finish from close range. The home team piled on the pressure and doubled their lead in the 66th minute when Denis Odoi scored to send Fulham into the final. The match ended 2-0 in favour of Slaviša Jokanović’s side as they march on to Wembley in the hopes of earning a promotion back to the English top-flight.
Let’s take a look at how each Derby County player performed during the contest against the Cottagers.
GK: Scott Carson – 8/10
The Rams goalie pulled off some outstanding saves in the first-half to keep the Cottagers from scoring. However, his resistance was finally broken in the second half as Fulham carved open the Derby defence to score two crucial goals on the night.
CB: Richard Keogh – 6/10
He battled hard for every ball and got a great chance in the dying embers of the game but his header flashed just wide off the post.
CB: Curtis Davies – 5/10
He had a tough time dealing with Mitrovic’s commanding presence and was also guilty of dropping his concentration at times in the second half.
CB: Craig Forsyth – 5/10
The Derby centre-back found it difficult to cope with the pace of the Fulham attack and was caught out, quite a few times during the game.
RM: Andre Wisdom – 5/10
He had a tough time stopping Ryan Sessegnon and hardly had any impact in the opposition half.
CM: Tom Huddlestone – 6.5/10
The Englishman retained the ball well and was a creative force from midfield.
CM: Bradley Johnson – 6/10
He worked his socks off and put in another tireless performance at the centre of the park.
LM: Ikechi Anya – 7.5/10
The Rams winger had a good game and created a lot of opportunities for his teammates. Unfortunately, the Rams squandered some fantastic chances which ultimately squashed their promotion hopes.
RAM: Tom Lawrence – 5/10
He struggled to cope with the pressure of the game and was rightfully substituted in the second half.
LAM: Andreas Weimann – 5.5/10
He missed a lot of great opportunities and was guilty of losing possession at times for the away side.
ST: Cameron Jerome – 5/10
He worked hard for the team but his decision-making on important moments of the game left a lot to be desired.
Substitutes:
CAM: Kasey Palmer – 5/10
He found it hard to have an impact in the final third.
ST: Matej Vydra – 5/10
He came off the bench to cause some problems to the Fulham defence. However, he didn’t have his shooting boots on as most of his attempts went off the mark.
ST: David Nugent – 5/10
The veteran forward hardly had a sniff at goal after coming on.
