Marcus Harness netted his first Derby goal as a quickfire double at the start of the second half helped the Rams to a 2-0 win against struggling QPR at Pride Park.
Derby broke the deadlock after 54 minutes when Curtis Nelson rose superbly to head in at a corner before Harness doubled the home side’s lead with a fine first-time finish less than a minute later.
The victory ends Derby’s three-game losing run, while QPR remain in the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone with the R’s now winless in their last five league games.
The game burst into life just past the quarter-hour mark as Derby goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom superbly tipped Karamoko Dembele’s dipping effort from 25 yards out over the crossbar.
R’s defender Jimmy Dunne then almost sliced a cross from the right into his own net as Paul Nardi reacted sharply to hold the defender’s miscued clearance.
The Rams came forward again soon after as Craig Forsyth dragged a shot wide from inside the penalty area after a ball in from the right just evaded Nathaniel Mendez-Laing in the middle.
The closest either side came to breaking the deadlock in the first half saw Dunne produce an excellent headed clearance to prevent Mendez-Laing’s chip from finding the net from a tight angle.
However, Derby made a blistering start to the second half and took the lead when Nelson headed Mendez-Laing’s corner from the right into the top corner after he was left unmarked 15 yards from goal.
The home side struck again less than a minute later as Kayden Jackson rolled the ball into the path of Harness, who swept into the top-left corner from the right-hand side of the penalty area to leave the visitors stunned.
Derby almost sealed the points when Kane Wilson floated a cross in from the right only for Nardi to superbly push Jerry Yates’ header from close range at the back post to safety.
QPR looked to halve the deficit as Morgan Fox played a ball out wide to substitute Paul Smyth, who cut in from the right and forced Zetterstrom into a smart save at his near post.
The visitors continued to search for route back into the game as Dembele tried his luck from distance and fired a shot narrowly wide.
Derby spurned another chance to wrap up the points late on as substitute Corey Blackett-Taylor shot straight at Nardi from a tight angle in the box after latching onto a long ball in behind.
Rams keeper Zetterstrom then made an excellent save low down to his left to keep out Sam Field’s header from eight yards out and preserve the home side’s clean sheet as Derby secured a first home win against the R’s since April 2019.
