Chris Martin's late equaliser for Derby County denies Nottingham Forest
Not even Chris Martin knew which part of his anatomy his equalising goal went in off but it may prove critical to Derby’s play-off ambitions after the striker claimed a broken rib and a point against his club’s fiercest rivals seven minutes into stoppage time.
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Derby face another four top-six opponents in their bid to stay in the Championship’s promotion race this month so Martin’s 11th goal of the season will help boost self-belief when they face West Bromwich and Brentford in the next week.
Nottingham Forest’s inability to hold on to three points was labelled “completely unacceptable” by Bruno Baltazar, the assistant coach, after they wasted four clear chances to add to Joe Lolley’s early goal. But their position in the top-six looks assured, even if this was the third time in four games they have conceded beyond the 90-minute mark.
Martin deserves credit for bundling the ball over the line during the time added on for Martyn Waghorn’s red card, after the Derby substitute had lunged in on Ryan Yates earlier in stoppage time.
That gave time for Wayne Rooney to launch a last-chance free-kick deep into the Forest area. Brice Samba could not hold the ball and when George Evans headed back into the middle, Martin nudged it goalwards. Even then, the ball was cleared, but the referee’s wristwatch signalled the goal.
“I’m not sure what it went in off,” said Martin. “I knew I was going to get hurt for my troubles but I was just desperate to get in there, even if I’ve now got a cracked rib. Even then I didn’t know if it had gone in, because it didn’t hit the back of the net, but I’m just happy to get the reward I felt we deserved overall.
“It could be massive. We’ve got a tough run of games to come but hopefully this has given us a great chance; it maintains momentum going into Wednesday’s game.”
It was Derby’s first goal against Forest in six meetings and rather fortuitous considering how slowly they started the game.
It was no surprise when Forest, sharper in all departments early on, took the lead in the 12th minute. Lolley came inside from the right under no great pressure and shot low into the far corner.
The Forest head coach, Sabri Lamouchi, had clearly done his homework, encouraging his players to sit off and allow Derby the ball. Rooney had plenty of time in deep central midfield but with the opposition well placed there was little room for him to play his penetrating passes, especially at the speed Derby were circulating the ball.
On one occasion, when Rooney received the ball just to the left of the centre-circle, Yates called on a team-mate not to press. “He’s only playing backwards,” Yates shouted.
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Derby improved, their young guns setting about Forest with more speed, but it was still the visiting team who looked the more dangerous on the counterattack.
Grabban, holding the ball up impressively as the lone front-man, shot just wide before substitute Tiago Silva struck a post 16 minutes from time; then Grabban controlled the ball, 10 yards out, but shot high over the bar.
Derby 1-1 Nottingham Forest, Blackburn 1-3 Leeds, Brentford 3-0 Wigan, Bristol City 0-1 Cardiff, Fulham 1-0 Birmingham, Huddersfield 0-0 Preston, Luton 0-5 Reading, Stoke City 4-0 Barnsley
Deep in stoppage time, Alex Mighten ran clean through but could not finish. That proved crucial.
“Now you have a positive feeling,” Phillip Cocu, the Derby manager, said. “We’re still in a good position to fight for a play-off spot and that’s what we want.”
