Derby County 1-0 Man Utd

Kris Commons 25 yard strike gave Derby County a deserved win in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final and stun United who had been poor.

New manager Nigel Clough would have been pleased in what he saw as Derby outplayed World Champions Manchester United. David Lowe’s one and only match in charge saw the Rams start the brighter and had a couple of good chances.

Davies first had a chance saved by Tomasz Kuszczak and the follow up denied by Vidic however the best chance fell to Mile Sterjovski, which was cleared off the line by Johnny Evans. His rasping shot curving in to the bottom corner only to be stopped by the Northern Ireland defender.

However that was not to matter as Scottish international Kris Commons long range effort beat Kuszczak and flew into the bottom corner. United where lacklustre with Roy Carroll having made no real first half save.

Ferguson had more than an eye on the weekends game with Chelsea but with the Red Devils failing to show any sign of a goalscoring opportunity, on came Rooney and Ronaldo. Both men couldn’t force anything however, although the Portuguese midfielder had two free kicks, one which went narrowly over. In the end Derby had the best chance of the second half as Hulse shot over when he should have scored.

A poor performance from United but would still be classed as favourites going in to the second leg.