Forest floor Rams in feisty East Midlands derby

Nottingham Forest strengthened their push for promotion from the Sky Bet Championship with a feisty 2-1 East Midlands derby victory over Derby.

Wayne Rooney’s Rams – who should have been in front when Tom Lawrence fired wide inside the first 20 minutes – fell behind when Lewis Grabban beat Ryan Allsop with a composed finish shortly after the break (48) – the 112th second-tier goal of his career.

Forest took charge thereafter and reported Brentford target Brennan Johnson looked to have sealed the points when he struck in the 82nd minute, only for Lawrence’s late penalty to set up a tense finale at the City Ground (88).

Derby were reduced to 10 men late on after Ravel Morrison was shown a red card for a lunging challenge on Philip Zinckernagel (90+7)

Steve Cooper’s men did manage to hold on for a win that moves them up to eighth and just two points outside the play-off places. Derby, though, were unable to extend their unbeaten run and stay 23rd on 14 points.

How Forest pipped Derby to the Brian Clough trophy

There was an altogether different back-drop to this derby – the 100th EFL meeting between the two teams – with the Rams’ very existence under threat due to well-publicised issues off the pitch. In spite of that, Wayne Rooney has shaped his squad into one of the in-form sides in the division.

And, with 16 minutes gone at the City Ground, they should have been ahead. Lawrence and Colin Kazim-Richards linked up, with the latter laying the ball into the feet of his team-mate, who dragged a shot agonisingly wide from 12 yards out.

Forest did eventually take control of the game, in terms of possession, at least, with Allsop pushing Ryan Yates’ shot clear before, at the other end, Brice Samba saved at the feet of Lawrence – and gained a bump above his eye as a result.

Within three minutes of the restart, the hosts took the lead. James Garner’s free-kick was headed into the area by Scott McKenna, with Keinan Davis prodding the ball to Steve Cook, whose shot was blocked. The ball, however, ricocheted to the far post, where Grabban was waiting to pounce.

Until the hour mark, there was a distinct lack of attacking intent from Derby. At that point, a last-ditch block from McKenna thwarted substitute Morrison, with Nathan Byrne unable to prod home at the far post.

So the drama was left until the closing stages. Johnson doubled the lead when he slotted home a Zinckernagel cross after setting the move in motion, but Lawrence halved the deficit when he found the bottom corner with a penalty after he was tripped by Cook.

Deep into stoppage-time, the Rams’ misery was compounded when Morrison was dismissed by Tim Robinson after a reckless challenge on Zinckernagel, leading to a mass coming-together between the two teams.

What’s next?

Nottingham Forest return to action at 7.45pm on Tuesday January 25, when they host Barnsley at the City Ground, while Derby host Birmingham City at Pride Park at 1.30pm on Sunday January 30, in a game which is live on Sky Sports Football.