QPR 2-1 Derby County
by Kadeem Simmonds
at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium

IT SAYS a lot about a player when the opposing manager sits down in a press conference and says his team should have taken him down at the halfway line.

But Derby boss Phillip Cocu was right.

The Rams allowed Eberechi Eze to glide across the Kiyan Prince Foundation turf and slip in Ilias Chair, who finished with aplomb to secure the three points, and the Derby defenders should have known better.

Eze is a player who looks destined for greatness. Both-footed, plenty of skill and an eye for goal, as well as the ability to play the right pass at the right time, his skillset has seen him linked with a move to the Premier League in the summer.

Though this wasn’t his best night in terms of overall performance, he still produced at the key time to leave his side just 10 points off the play-off spots with 11 games to go.

In truth, neither team impressed on a bitter night in south-west London. QPR went ahead through Grant Hall’s half-volley which found the back of the net courtesy off the crossbar.

Derby striker Martyn Waghorn equalised when his header from a corner two minutes from the break.

The second-half played out in tense fashion, neither side really having the quality to do real damage — and this was a match which featured Wayne Rooney at the centre of the Derby midfield and Tom Lawrence, another youngster with a bright future.

In fact, when Eze won the ball off Rooney on the half-way line and looked to get away from, forcing the former England captain to bring him down, the home fans cheered in delight as the tricky kid had got the better off the grizzled veteran.

And it was Eze who ended up having that special moment of brilliance.

Rooney’s underhit cross-field pass was intercepted by the 21-year-old just inside his own half.

With a surging run, a nice bit of skill to beat one player and perfectly weighted through ball later, Eze had turned the game around for QPR.

Left foot, right foot, it doesn’t matter — Eze has all the talent to make the next step and make it look easy.