Tevez and Ronaldo Reign in the Rain

Derby were lucky. They could have come up against Manchester United in August, or in an exhibition game in January in Saudi Arabia.

It is easy to see why United go on such jaunts when you see the sort of weather they have to put up with at home, but though the conditions kept the score down, the home side's effort and application could not be faulted.

Paul Jewell's worst fears must have been realized when he saw the United team sheet. There were no rotational favors or rested stars from Sir Alex Ferguson, although Owen Hargreaves's knee lasted no longer than the warm-up and Michael Carrick was promoted from the bench before kick-off. Not only were Jewell's new club bottom of the table, goalless in seven matches and without an away goal to their name all season, the former Wigan manager's personal record against United is shocking. Not so much as a point in seven games with Wigan and Bradford, and just three goals scored to 24 against.

Derby's only hope appeared to lie with the weather, for their experience at the Theater of Dreams was a wet one. More rain than even Manchester is used to had made the pitch soggy and slow, with no visible standing water but splashes at every step and the surface slowing the ball so that passes had to be over hit. The days when Derby had an advantage on heavy pitches through regularly playing on a mud heap are as distant as their success in the 1970s, however, and after taking a while to find their feet United were able to make their pace and movement count.

Giles Barnes produced the first attempt on target with an effort that Edwin van der Sar saved comfortably, though Derby were served warning that Cristiano Ronaldo can cope with wintry conditions when the winger set off on a short run and sent a shot narrowly wide. Claude Davis was lucky to get away with bringing down Ryan Giggs on the edge of the area, and Derby were equally relieved when the United captain's free-kick flew over the bar. Giggs let Ronaldo take a turn with the next one, from more than 25 yards out, but though he managed to get his shot to dip it did not dip enough to trouble Stephen Bywater.

The Derby goalkeeper did not have a save to make until the 36th minute, when Carlos Tevez drove a shot straight at him through a crowded area, though he was indebted to a terrific piece of defending by James McEveley that prevented United opening the scoring nine minutes earlier. Giggs and Ronaldo had done all the work and the latter's low cross along the goal line seemed a formality for Wayne Rooney to turn in, yet somehow McEvely managed to get his foot in the six-inch space between the ball and the line and effect a tackle and a block at the same time.

Sadly such last-ditch heroics were never likely to keep United out, and after being penned back in their own half for several minutes Derby cracked when Bywater could not hold a Ronaldo shot. The winger showed determination and resourcefulness in picking up a loose ball from Patrice Evra and fashioning an opportunity for himself out of nothing, though it was Giggs who profited by being first to reach the rebound. Giggs also sent Rooney away with a glorious cross field pass two minutes later, one that the striker controlled and coolly flipped over Bywater's dive, only to see his shot rebound from an upright. No matter, there was still time for United to take a two-goal lead into the interval, when Derby failed to clear a free-kick and allowed Tevez two hacks at a ball bobbling near the penalty spot. The first was an air shot, the second sent Derby into the dressing room fearing they might be about to see the day's second deluge.

The rain showed no sign of abating, the water rose hour by hour, 'til the only dry land was at Blackpool, and that was on top of the tower. No, not really.

The pitch did cut up more in the second half, and the conditions remained atrocious, yet United stuck professionally to their task, with sunshine boys Ronaldo and Anderson earning the admiration of the crowd by conspicuously applying graft as well as guile. Not to mention Tevez, although the Argentine's second goal was again the result of laxity in the Derby defense. Bywater had just seen a Giggs volley whistle past his post after Wes Brown had supplied a sumptuous cross from the right, and when Brown found Tevez in the area with a much shorter, simpler pass, Dean Leacock failed to close him down until it was too late and the ball had been lashed into the net.

That was when the Derby fightback began. Too late for this game, of course, but when you have not scored for almost 13 hours your first away goal of the season has got to count as more than consolation. Jewell must hope so, anyway. At least the result looked more flattering than those at Anfield and the Emirates, even if the conditions might have been largely responsible.

The conditions probably played a part in Steve Howard's goal too. Van der Sar came sliding off his line but could not prevent Tyrone Mears's cross reaching Howard in the center, where a series of slips and ricochets saw Brown's attempted clearance rebound off the Derby player and the ball cross the line at the same time as Nemanja Vidic, whose attempt at recovery might have been more effective on a drier day. Derby did not deserve to ship a fourth goal in stoppage time and Ronaldo, considering the conditions, possibly did not deserve a penalty from Mears' challenge. But Jewell would not have been expecting any favors.