Premiership: Derby start off Christmas with a win

Derby 3 Aston Villa 1

Malcolm Christie clambered off the bench to grab his first goal of the season and give Derby an early Christmas bonus at freezing Pride Park today.

Christie latched onto fellow substitute Deon Burton’s perfect pass in the 87th minute and held his nerve to fire past Peter Schmeichel from 12 yards.

Benito Carbone had scored his first goal for the Rams on his 10th appearance to put the Rams back in front on a freezing east midlands afternoon.

Carbone, in what proved to be his last contribution of the afternoon before being replaced by Christie, fired home from the edge of the six-yard box in the 66th minute after Schmeichel could only palm Fabrizio Ravanelli’s right-wing cross into his path.

Delighted Rams boss Colin Todd said: ‘‘Malcolm is a young boy who is still learning the game but he’s proved that he’s got a big future at this football club.

‘‘Once again our home form has stood us in good stead and now we have got to build on it. This was a very, very big win for us today.’’

Villa, who had the best of the possession throughout the afternoon, had been unfortunate not to grab the lead themselves moments earlier, when their substitute Hassan Kachloul fired a low 20-yard effort which crashed against the base of Mart Poom’s right post and flashed across goal to safety.

But their manager John Gregory warned: ‘‘You have to put away your chances. You can’t just hope they go in, you have to make sure they go in.

‘‘Hassan hit the post and they went up the other end and scored. All the goals were down to individual mistakes and we were a little bit lax in all three situations.

‘‘It was a golden opportunity for us to win today and we did not take that opportunity.’’

A poor first half had promised few of the second-half fireworks which were to follow.

Only Pierre Ducrocq had troubled Schmeichel with a speculative long-range dig while returning Rams goalkeeper Mart Poom was only briefly bothered by a poor shot from Juan Pablo Angel.

The Rams, desperate for three points to stay in touch with safety, briefly lifted the gloom one minute before the break when Giorgi Kinkladze, making his first start under Todd, lofted in a corner from the right and Ravanelli turned to knock the opener past Schmeichel.

‘‘People said you couldn’t play Kinkladze, Carbone and Ravanelli all together at home but I think we proved that we could today,’’ added Todd.

But the Rams’ lead only lasted a matter of seconds as Villa broke from the restart and J-Lloyd Samuel found Angel, who turned the sluggish Youl Mawene and fired past Poom.

Villa were on top at the start of the second period and Angel should have had his second after 53 minutes when he was sent clear by Lee Hendrie but his shot was well blocked by the advancing Poom.

Prompted tirelessly by the returning Paul Merson in midfield, Villa continued to search for the goal which ought to have ensured that they entered the busy festive period still in touch with the Premiership leaders.

Mawene bundled an Angel effort over his own crossbar and after Carbone had put the Rams back in front the Colombian ought to have done better with a header which flashed wide with Poom nowhere.

Kachloul in particular was giving the visitors a new lease of life but with Carbone and Ravanelli beginning to fire the Rams were beginning to look good value for their lead.

Christie secured the points with his cool finish and ensured the Rams went into two difficult away tests at Blackburn and West Ham brimming with confidence at last.