Lamouchi leads Forest to second round Carabao Cup win over Derby

Posted Wednesday, August 28, 2019 by PA

Sabri Lamouchi claimed victory in his first east midlands derby as Nottingham Forest thumped old rivals Derby 3-0 in the Carabao Cup at the City Ground.

It was a derby-day debut for both Lamouchi and recently appointed Rams boss Phillip Cocu, but it was the former France international who was left smiling, as goals from Albert Adomah, Joe Lolley and Joao Carvalho eased Forest into the third round.

There are likely to be two very different looking sides in action when these sides meet again here in the Championship in November, with both bosses having rung the changes.

There were 10 for Derby from the 1-1 draw with West Brom, with only Lee Buchanan – who made his full debut at the weekend, retaining his place. Forest made eight alterations themselves, with only Brice Samba, Joe Worrall and Lolley retaining their place in the side that had beaten Fulham 2-1.

It was a slightly more experienced Forest side – and that became obvious in the first 45 minutes.

It was a typically closely-contested derby, but Forest were getting the better of it as the half developed, with Rafa Mir volleying over with a spectacular attempt, after a Matty Cash cross was headed back to him.

Mir, the on-loan Wolves striker, was at the centre of things, as a pass from Brennan Johnson gave him the chance to force a fine save from Ben Hamer, diving low to his left.

Forest did take the lead in the 26th minute, as a Lolley corner dropped perfectly for Adomah at the far post, where the winger swept the ball emphatically into the back of the net from a few yards out.

Adomah then turned provider as Forest extended their lead, beating three players with a darting, driving run down the left, before floating a cross towards the far post, where Lolley was arriving to attack a header with impressive purpose, to send it bouncing into the back of the net.

Teenager Whittaker had a good chance to pull one back just before the break, but fired over after good work from former Forest man Jamie Paterson.

Cash had a shot saved in the first minute of the second half and, from the resulting corner, Hamer had to react quickly again to keep out a Mir header.

Sub Jack Marriott sent a shot rising high over the bar and saw another effort blocked by Tobias Figueiredo.

Forest might have had a penalty when Matthew Clarke appeared to pull down Mir in the box, but referee John Brooks was not convinced.

But they did have a bit of good fortune go their way when, in the 80th minute, an attempted clearance from Curtis Davies was blocked by sub Carvalho, sending the ball flying into the top corner.