Matej Vydra again left his mark on Nottingham Forest when he scored one and made another as Derby beat their local rivals 2-0 at Pride Park.
The Czech forward netted his ninth goal in eight games against Forest and then set up David Nugent to give Derby victory in the 100th domestic meeting between the east Midlands clubs.
Vydra and Nugent had scored against Forest at the City Ground in March and the quality of finishing once again proved decisive as the visitors squandered a number of good chances with Jason Cummings missing from close range just before Nugent’s goal.
Forest had scored a stoppage-time equaliser against Derby in March but this time they conceded after only 24 seconds when Vydra was allowed to run across the face of the penalty area too easily and fire a low shot into the bottom left corner of Jordan Smith’s net.
Nugent doubled the advantage with a low finish in the 50th minute.
Derby can now be backed at 15/2 with Sky Bet to win promotion. Forest are on offer at 40/1 to go up.
Forest and Derby are on offer at 7/1 and 50/1 respectively in the relegation odds.
Story of the odds
- Three winners came in with Sky Bet when Matej Vydra netted after 24 seconds. Vydra to score first at 9/2, Vydra to score from outside the area at 10/1 and Vydra to score in the first 10 minutes at 14/1 all landed!
- The biggest winning RequestABet was Derby to win, BTTS ‐ No and 5+ corners for each team at 9/1.
Post-match reaction
Derby manager Gary Rowett revealed how a pep talk with Matej Vydra paid off as the Czech striker continued his remarkable scoring record against Forest.
Rowett said: "It was a fantastic goal from Matej. I spoke to him (on Saturday) and said to him that he's got everything to be the best number 10 in this division.
"Both feet are fantastic, he can run, he's quick, powerful and I think he showed that ability for that first goal."
Forest manager Mark Warburton lamented his side's lack of quality in the final third as they left empty-handed.
He said: "It's very frustrating for the players and the supporters because if you lose and you play poorly you have to put your hand up and say we deserved to lose, but after giving away the goal so early in an intimidating atmosphere we responded magnificently.
"We created so many chances and we have to take them. I thought we were very good for long periods but that's not what our supporters or our players want to hear.
"It's not about possession - possession is irrelevant - it's about creating quality chances. It was deeply frustrating because you want the fans to see them play good football and get reward for doing so."
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