Colin Todd will be hoping his days in charge of Derby get easier after this. His first match in charge of the Rams saw Fulham score five goals from five different sources – four of them coming in a relentless 25-minute spell – as Jean Tigana’s men eased into the fourth round of the League Cup at Craven Cottage.
Todd would have been cheered by Craig Burley’s opener which put the visitors on course for what would have been an upset, but Barry Hayles soon hauled the hosts level. Fabricio Ravenelli restored Derby’s lead early in the second half, but County were then blown away by a ferocious Fulham onslaught that gave Todd an indication of the size of the task in front of him at Pride Park.
It took until midway through the second period for Fulham’s football to be as fluent as Tigana demands. Sylvain Legwinski’s thumping header – his first since a £3m move from Bordeaux earlier this summer – drew the Whites level and they went on to dominate the remainder of a wide open contest. John Collins curled in a classical free-kick to give Fulham the lead for the first time and Louis Saha stepped off the bench to score a splendid individual goal with twenty minutes remaining.
Replacing the ineffectual Steve Marlet, who still hasn’t scored a goal since his big money move from Lyon at the end of August, Saha glided through the remnants of a tiring Derby defence to make it 4-2 with a lovely, low finish from eighteen yards out. Another substitute Steed Malbranque converted a late penalty to round off the scoring – and seal a comprehensive victory.
A watchable game was soured by an eighteen-man brawl sparked by an off-the-ball incident involving Legwinski and Derby’s Daryl Powell. The French midfielder was furious that Powell had accused him of diving – and the Rams midfielder was cautioned for his part in the altercation.
FULHAM (4-4-2): Taylor; Finnan, Brevett, Melville, Knight; Davis, Collins, Clark (Malbranque 66), Legwinski (Boa Morte 70); Hayles, Marlet (Saha 66). Subs (not used): van der Sar, Goldbaek.
BOOKED: Brevett, Davis.
GOALS: Hayles (37), Legwinski (56), Collins (62), Saha (71), Malbranque (pen 81).
DERBY COUNTY (4-4-2): Oakes; Dainio, Higginbotham, Riggott, Mawene; Burley, Johnson, Murray (Christie 74), D. Powell; Ravanelli, Burton. Subs (not used): Grant, Elliot, Boertien, Valakari.
BOOKED: D. Powell.
GOALS: Burley (19), Ravanelli (55).
REFEREE: Graham Barber (Surrey).
ATTENDANCE: 9,217.
