Derby County vs Hull City. Sky Bet Championship.
Pride Park StadiumAttendance25,107.
Friday 8 September 2017 23:40, UK
Brilliant Derby County hammered Hull City 5-0 with a ruthless performance in the Sky Bet Championship on Friday night.
Matej Vydra and Bradley Johnson both struck twice at Pride Park, with Curtis Davies also getting on the scoresheet as the Rams ran riot.
Hull had won 4-0 in their last game before the international break, but Leonid Slutsky's side, featuring three debutants, looked disjointed from the start.
The result lifts Derby up to fourth in the table ahead of the rest of the weekend's action, while Hull remain 10th.
Vydra fired Derby in front with a fine free-kick from the edge of the area with a quarter of an hour on the clock, but the turning point came in the 27th minute of the game.
Ola Aina, who had fouled Vydra for Derby's opener, was hauled down in the box by Tom Lawrence for a Hull penalty, but Seb Larsson stepped up to thump his effort over the bar.
And the Tigers would pay for that miss after 34 minutes when Vydra rounded off a fine team move to blast home his and Derby's second goal, before Davies and Johnson added two more before the break.
First, Davies was left completely unmarked from a corner after 38 minutes to head home against his former club, and Johnson arrived at the far post four minutes later to convert Lawrence's cross on the stroke of half-time.
If Hull had any chance of a comeback, those hopes were swiftly ended as Johnson netted his second after 58 minutes, picking up a poor clearance on the edge of the box before curling a lovely effort into the bottom corner to cap off a fine win.
A fine display from Bradley Johnson, who helped the Rams run the game in the middle of the park and got two goals to boot, a poacher's effort at the far post on the stroke of half-time, and a lovely finish from the edge of the area after the break.
Gary Rowett: "I'm really pleased, not least because we needed a reaction after the Sheffield United game going into the international break. I don't think we've been far away in recent games, it's just been silly errors and gifting away goals.
"We showed more energy, got our shape and pressed them when we needed to. Some of our interchange and finishing was top drawer. I felt there were areas we could exploit Hull and we did that out of possession."
Leonid Slutsky: "First of all I must apologise to our supporters because they don't deserve this type of match. It's my fault because I prepare the team. We're building a new team, and next match will be the most serious test for us. Now is a very important time, everybody can fall down but it's very important to now stand up.
"I think they maybe only had five goal attempts and we conceded five times. It's how we play in the next match which will show our team spirit and willpower."
Hull travel to Fulham on Tuesday night in the Sky Bet Championship, while Derby visit Barnsley in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
