Preston North End 0-1 Derby County: Wayne Rooney inspires Rams to victory once again
- Published
Wayne Rooney's first-half strike was his fifth goal in 15 league games for Derby
Wayne Rooney was once again at his influential best as his delightful free-kick earned in-form Derby County a win over Preston North End that takes them to within a point of the Championship play-off places.
The 34-year-old former England captain curled the ball in to secure a fifth successive league victory and consign fellow promotion hopefuls Preston to a fifth loss in a six-game winless run.
Rooney was the key figure, orchestrating most of his side's best moments in a victory that could easily have been by a greater margin.
North End's chances of celebrating becoming the first club to play 5,000 league games in English football with a win to reignite their own fading top-six aspirations never seemed likely despite an improved second-half performance and some strong late pressure.
Paul Gallagher had a fierce strike blocked and Alan Browne trickled a shot wide under pressure before the break, but the hosts managed just one effort on target throughout
Defeat sees them drop below Derby to ninth in the table, still four points adrift of the top six.
Rooney repeat inspires Rams
The Rams are the form team in the second tier in 2020, this victory taking their tally to 30 points and keeping them on course to reach the play-off for the fifth time in seven seasons.
Rooney's influence in a deeper role since his January arrival has been the glaringly obvious catalyst for a run which has brought him five goals and helped the team to nine wins in 15 league games since his debut appearance against Barnsley.
Derby's young talent, notably Duane Holmes, Jayden Bogle, Jason Knight and Max Bird - and lately Louie Sibley - are also flourishing.
Their increasing confidence was evident as top scorer Waghorn almost added to his tally of 12 goals early, only to be denied by Rudd's fine reaction save.
Rooney, also the matchwinner last time out against Reading, grabbed the only goal from a contentious set-piece, awarded for a foul on Sibley by Paul Huntington, after which the defender appeared to stamp on the teenage midfielder.
The incident may well be looked at again, but Rooney's strike over the wall and into the far corner was an immediate punishment.
Sibley and Holmes both went close to adding to the tally in the first period, and substitute Chris Martin was just off target in the second period.
However, chances were limited after the break as Preston upped the tempo and started to edge possession without creating much.
Daunting run-ins await
Rooney has played in a midfield five for most of his time at Derby
Derby have an incredibly tough run-in, facing five of the top six in their six remaining games.
Their next fixture sees them host fierce rivals Nottingham Forest, with further home matches against third-placed Brentford and leaders Leeds United to come.
Away from home they will play second-placed West Bromwich Albion and Cardiff City, who are sixth, before travelling to Birmingham City on the final day of the campaign.
Preston also have a daunting run-in, with four of their six games on the road - including trips to Brentford and Bristol City - and a home fixture against Forest.
Their dreadful sequence has now brought-back-to-back defeats against play-off rivals, having lost 3-1 to Cardiff City in their last league match.
Post-match reaction
Preston boss Alex Neil:
"It's a moment of quality from Wayne Rooney. It is a great free-kick, I don't think you can take that away from him.
"Obviously we are not in good form in terms of results but I don't think our performance levels have been that bad if I'm being honest, I think we are just lacking that little bit of cutting edge we need to us get in front and hopefully try to win that first game."
Derby head coach Phillip Cocu:
"It was a great goal by Wayne, it was just a pity we couldn't score the second one.
"But in the end I think we played in some periods of the game really good football, and we showed character at the end when we needed it to defend well.
"We have many more challenges to face, playing a lot of top teams in the table. So we cannot be too satisfied. We are heading in the right direction but we are not there yet."