Derby County

An unexpectedly exotic flourish, a rising diagonal shot by the marauding Argentinian left-back Federico Bessone, ended Derby's resistance last night and propelled Swansea above Cardiff into third place in the Championship – their highest position since 1983.

The difference then was that John Toshack's team were on their way down, whereas Paulo Sousa's side are now unbeaten in 11 matches. Bessone's first goal for the club, set up by Joe Allen, did not alter their curious status as the division's lowest scorers. And yet Derby, having suffered a fourth defeat in five games, would happily swap places with them.

Derby almost gifted Swansea an eighth-minute lead. Gary Teale's back-pass from the left wing sold Stephen Bywater horribly short, allowing Nathan Dyer to pounce on the ball, round the keeper and take aim from a tight angle. To Teale's great relief, the winger's shot struck the outside of the near post.

Nigel Clough matched up to Sousa's system, which deploys Craig Beattie as Swansea's lone striker. Far from being a cagey affair, however, the contest was fast and open in the first half, with Derby, as befits their manager's pedigree, also striving to replicate Swansea's crisp, ground-level passing style.

Robbie Savage's every touch was booed – the Derby captain would not have it any other way – but his constant cajoling of team-mates helped ensure a more cohesive look than on their previous visit to his homeland. On that occasion they lost 6-1 at Cardiff, the kind of spree Swansea's tactics tend to preclude.

Dyer's pace and trickery frequently stirred an expectant crowd while Beattie showed his predatory potential with a 28th-minute shot which Bywater pushed behind after a short-corner routine straight from the training ground.

The longer the game progressed, the more Derby's ambition became to hold on to a point. Swansea's propensity for patiently working an opening – or over-elaboration as it often appeared – enabled Savage to pull his players behind the ball, en masse. On a rare break-out Jake Livermore wasted a free shot by directing so far off target that it went for a throw-in.

The initial, gratifying sight of two teams intent upon enterprise gave way to an attritional struggle, with Derby effectively challenging Swansea to break them down.

This is not a news report and may contain views expressed by the author which are not supported by GNM.

An unexpectedly exotic flourish, a rising diagonal shot by the marauding Argentinian left-back Federico Bessone, ended Derby's resistance last night and propelled Swansea above Cardiff into third place in the Championship – their highest position since 1983.

The difference then was that John Toshack's team were on their way down, whereas Paulo Sousa's side are now unbeaten in 11 matches. Bessone's first goal for the club, set up by Joe Allen, did not alter their curious status as the division's lowest scorers. And yet Derby, having suffered a fourth defeat in five games, would happily swap places with them.

Derby almost gifted Swansea an eighth-minute lead. Gary Teale's back-pass from the left wing sold Stephen Bywater horribly short, allowing Nathan Dyer to pounce on the ball, round the keeper and take aim from a tight angle. To Teale's great relief, the winger's shot struck the outside of the near post.

Nigel Clough matched up to Sousa's system, which deploys Craig Beattie as Swansea's lone striker. Far from being a cagey affair, however, the contest was fast and open in the first half, with Derby, as befits their manager's pedigree, also striving to replicate Swansea's crisp, ground-level passing style.

Robbie Savage's every touch was booed – the Derby captain would not have it any other way – but his constant cajoling of team-mates helped ensure a more cohesive look than on their previous visit to his homeland. On that occasion they lost 6-1 at Cardiff, the kind of spree Swansea's tactics tend to preclude.

Dyer's pace and trickery frequently stirred an expectant crowd while Beattie showed his predatory potential with a 28th-minute shot which Bywater pushed behind after a short-corner routine straight from the training ground.

The longer the game progressed, the more Derby's ambition became to hold on to a point. Swansea's propensity for patiently working an opening – or over-elaboration as it often appeared – enabled Savage to pull his players behind the ball, en masse. On a rare break-out Jake Livermore wasted a free shot by directing so far off target that it went for a throw-in.

The initial, gratifying sight of two teams intent upon enterprise gave way to an attritional struggle, with Derby effectively challenging Swansea to break them down.

This is not a news report and may contain views expressed by the author which are not supported by GNM.