Derby County ended a tough week on a high after a 3-2 win over Birmingham City to grab their first home win of the season.
Chris Martin and Martyn Waghorn put Derby two goals to the good before Gary Gardner and Ivan Sunjic quickly pegged back the Rams in the second half.
A Lukas Jutkiewicz penalty was well saved by Kelle Roos to deny the visitors, before Derby stormed up the other end with Jamie Paterson scoring the winner.
Phillip Cocu’s side responded to recent off-field problems perfectly. Martin’s neat touch and finish from a Duane Holmes cross put the Rams 1-0 within just 90 seconds of the match.
Derby continued to play like a side with confidence, Martin the orchestrator of Cocu’s side. The forward’s hold up play and neat passes was bringing players into the game and caused issues for Birmingham.
The rest of the first half consisted of half chances. First Martin latched onto a pass on the edge of the box, his shot curling just past the far post. Then Florian Josefzoon made a run behind the Blues’ back-line but the wide-man’s shot hit the side netting.
Birmingham were always a threat though. Deliveries into the box caused chaos for the home side, Roos’ command of area a main weakness the away side tried to exploit.
The second half then took the game up a gear. Martin was involved yet again as the forward capitalised on a mistake at the back for the Blues. The number 19 slipped through Waghorn, who made no mistake of increasing the Rams’ lead.
Just four minutes later, the game delved into pandemonium. Gardner’s front post header beat everyone to bring the Pep Clotet’s side back into the game.
Five minutes later and the game was once again level. Sunjic’s wonderful effort from the edge of the 18-yard box flew past Roos’ despairing dive.
Cocu’s side lost their composure, finding it tough to control the game as they had previously. It seemed as though it was going to go from bad to worse for the Dutchman as Birmingham were awarded a penalty in the 69th minute. Jutkiewicz stepped up, placing his spot kick to the right of the Derby ‘keeper. However, the shot stopper managed to get low and denied the away side a lead in the match.
The turntables of a crazy game were set to turn once more. A quick counter from the Rams put Paterson through on goal, who buried his effort underneath the body of an out-rushing Lee Camp in the Birmingham goal.
It was a lead that Derby wouldn’t give away this time, seeing out the game professionally in a match that made the players fight for every point they gained.
Derby County: Roos, Lowe, Bielik, Davies (C), Malone, Huddlestone, Holmes (Knight 90), Waghorn, Paterson, Jozefzoon (Bogle 72), Martin (Marriott 71).
Unused Substitutes: Shinnie, Dowell, Hamer, Clarke.
Attendance: 28,454
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