It was supposed to be an easy encounter to win for Manchester United. But the appointment of Nigel Clough as manager of the Championship club made the game some kind of a tricky trip for the Reds.

With Ronaldo back in the squad and Tevez starting upfront instead of the injured Berbatov, predictions were that Derby County will suffer from a flurry of goals.

However, if United could boast of a 3-0 FA Cup win four days before, Derby’s confidence was also lifted by their miraculous 4-3 victory which thus took them through to the last 32 of the FA Cup.

Last year, the former Premier League club lost narrowly by a 75th minute Cristiano Ronaldo volley to nil, which inflicted more worries to their poor record in the EPL.

Since 1962, Derby County have never ever reached the final of a major tournament, and their hunger to be a step closer to qualifying for the final of the Carling was certainly bigger than ever.

Steve Davies missed two great opportunities to break the deadlock for the home side but Kris Commons did not miss moments later. His shot 25 yards from goal stunned the visitors; the Championship club were then 1-0 up against the recently crowned World Champions on 30 minutes.

Ronaldo came very close to equalize 15 minutes from time with a long range free-kick. But it was never enough to overcome the nightmare of loosing away to Derby.

The referee’s blow at the end of the 90 minutes came at the relief of the home supporters; their club have recorded arguably the greatest Giant killing of the year so far.

Manchester United will have some work to do later on when they host opponents Derby for the second leg of the semi-final clash.

Written by: Angela Asante.