Carling Cup - Derby 1-0 Manchester United

Kris Commons' fierce strike gave Derby County a shock win in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final against a lethargic Manchester United side.

In front of new boss Nigel Clough, who takes charge on Thursday, Derby made a bright start and took the lead when Commons fired home after 30 minutes.

The closest United came to an equaliser was a second-half Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick that flew inches wide.

But Rob Hulse missed a golden chance to make it 2-0 when he fired over late on.

It was a humbling night for the Premier League, European and club world champions, who were deservedly beaten by a Derby side that has won only one of their last nine league games.

Following the departure of caretaker manager Chris Hutchings this week, academy boss David Lowe was in charge of the Rams for the first, and only, time.

The attention before the game was on Clough, whose legendary late father Brian took the club from the old Division Two to the 1972 League title, and Clough Jr received a rousing reception from home fans at a sold-out Pride Park before kick-off.

Clough Snr would certainly have approved of the way that Derby rose to the occasion, with the Championship side taking the game to United in the early stages.

Davies was denied by Tomasz Kuszczak when he let fly from a tight angle and, after the ball fell kindly for the former Tranmere midfielder, Nemanja Vidic did well to block his goal-bound follow-up.

Mile Sterjovski was the next Derby player to have a shot cleared off the line, when Jonny Evans hacked away his first-time effort, and Andy Todd was unlucky to see his lob land on the roof of the net soon afterwards when a poor Kuszczak punch fell at his feet.

Even those near-misses were not enough to awaken United from their slumbers and Commons' goal on the half-hour mark was fully deserved.

The United defence backed away from the Scotland international and he had time to pick his spot before blasting a ferocious left-foot shot past the despairing Kuszczak from 25 yards out.