Derby County vs Preston North End. Sky Bet Championship.
Pride Park StadiumAttendance23,600.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Derby County and Preston at Pride Park as Ravel Morrison scored a late Rams winner in a game which saw both sides finish with 10 men.
Saturday 2 April 2022 18:42, UK
Ravel Morrison's late goal boosted Derby's Sky Bet Championship survival bid as they beat Preston 1-0 at Pride Park.
Both sides were reduced to 10 men and the game looked to be heading towards stalemate when Morrison smashed home a loose ball 10 minutes from time.
Preston played for more than an hour a man down after Liam Lindsay was sent off for bringing down Tom Lawrence, but Derby had Max Bird dismissed early in the second half for a foul on Ben Whiteman.
But Morrison's strike lifted the home fans and keeps Derby in with a chance of staying in the Championship.
It was a game Derby desperately needed to win but Preston started well and Cameron Archer should have done better with a 10th-minute header which he put tamely wide from eight yards.
Derby lifted their fans in the 19th minute when the ball broke to Jason Knight, who surged forward before unleashing a drive from 25 yards out that Daniel Iversen turned behind.
It was the start of a good period for Derby who should have gone ahead in the 23rd minute when Malcolm Ebiowei crossed from the right but Lawrence headed wide from six yards.
Derby were given a big boost in the 33rd minute when Lindsay tripped Lawrence on the edge of the box with the Welshman about to go through on goal and referee Geoff Eltringham produced a red card.
After Lawrence put the free-kick wide, Preston regrouped by bringing on defender Sepp Van Den Berg in place of top-scorer Emil Riis Jakobsen.
Derby started the second half strongly but they were reduced to 10 men in the 54th minute when Bird was shown a straight red for a challenge which left Whiteman needing treatment.
With emotions running high, the game was held up briefly when a spectator ran onto the pitch but he was quickly surrounded by stewards and escorted from the ground.
Derby were looking the more likely to score and, after Lawrence had a shot turned behind, they went ahead in the 80th minute.
Lawrence's corner was met by Curtis Davies and although Iversen made a superb save and a second effort was blocked, the ball broke to Morrison who slammed a volley into the roof of the net.
Derby were close to a second five minutes later when Morrison played in Nathan Byrne but Iversen again kept his side in the game.
But the visitors hardly threatened as Derby held on for a vital victory to climb off the foot of the table.
Derby's Wayne Rooney: "It looked like a red card. He's made a challenge, he has gone for the ball, he has felt he can win it and sometimes you mistime tackles. I did speak to the players at half-time. I said to them it is so important, we have an advantage with an extra player so it is so important we don't waste that opportunity.
"It happened against Peterborough with Tom Lawrence and exactly what happened against Peterborough happened again. Of course you don't want players getting sent off. I understand sometimes it happens, sometimes you make a challenge where you feel you can win the ball, that is part of football, part of the game. The players are committed, you want them to play on that edge."
Preston's Ryan Lowe: "We're disappointed. Obviously the sending-off just kills momentum and we have to adapt a little bit. When they lose their man you think go on the front foot, I thought it was going to affect them more than us because they needed to find the win but they found it and we didn't. I thought the game was going to be seen out as a 0-0, we were cagey and I thought Derby were definitely a little bit cagey. We felt we weren't really going to score and they weren't going to find a way of scoring unless it was from a mistake.
"Daniel (Iversen) has made two fantastic saves but we've got to make sure we see that out and clear it but we didn't and they've got a goal from it. I think the effort and determination was certainly there for us to try and get something out of the game but it's one of those things and we have to move on very quickly because it's gone and we've got to make sure we look forward to a big encounter on Tuesday night."
