Derby County defender Matt Clarke told RamsTV how he believes Hull City’s defensive structure from set-pieces gave his side an advantage at Pride Park on Saturday.
The Rams defeated Hull City 1-0 with Matt Clarke scoring from a corner.
(Photo by Jon Hobley/ MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images).
It was only the second goal Derby have scored from a header all season, and the first directly from a corner as the defender took advantage of some slack marking.
Speaking to RamsTV, Clarke wondered whether Derby would ever score a corner this season but added the Hull defensive structure made the job much easier.
You get corner, after corner, after corner, and you get to a point where you think ‘are we ever going to score’. I attack the ball so I do think there are goals there for me. The way Hull set up today suited that, with them marking zonal with players marking outside the zone. I felt like there was something there for us and we stuck together.
Derby County finally score a header from a set-piece:
Hull threatened through Jarrod Bowen in the first half. But, after the break, Derby were the stronger of the two teams and they profited from some poor defending.
Tom Lawrence floated a corner in, and Hull goalkeeper George Long misjudged the flight. Two defenders were supposed to block Clarke’s run, but they failed allowing the Brighton and Hove Albion loanee to rise highest to nod into an empty net.
Hull manager Grant McCann bemoaned his defenders after the game. He told the Hull Daily Mail how his side work on set-pieces, but they failed to do their jobs.
Derby don’t have the tallest team in the league. Moreover, the delivery on occasions this season has been underwhelming, giving the defenders little chance to score.
But the Rams finally broke the mould against the Tigers. Now, Phillip Cocu’s side can take confidence going forward and look to become a bigger set-piece threat.
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