?I hope we can be better than this?

Not the words of a head coach who has just suffered a poor defeat away from home. These were the words of JHT in his post-match interview following the 3-2 victory against Derby.

While I wouldn?t necessarily choose those words, ?Unnecessarily nervous ending?  was my reaction as I filed my way out of the ground on Saturday.

For most of the first half, City were firmly in control of both the ball and the game’s tempo. Towards the latter stages of the first half, Derby began to exert some influence on the proceedings, quickly extinguished following Borja Sainz’s superb flick to establish a lead.

Until then, although Derby were initially pressing City quite high, the home side dropped into their own half, with the defence squeezing up with a high line, cutting the oxygen to the City attacks.
For all their domination of possession, City were creating few chances.

From the away end, where I was ?sat?, it was impossible to see that Josh Sargent?s cross had gone out of play. However, the finish from Sainz was in full focus. What a great piece of innovation, flicking it in with the instep of the heel on his trailing foot.

The noise at the start of the second half was intense. It was almost inevitable that the home team would score. And so it came to pass. It felt like the home fans almost sucked the ball into the net. 

And just as City?s goal was an infringement, so was the first Derby goal.  A clearly ...