Promotion to the Premier League in 2007 should have sparked the start of a positive journey for Derby County.
However, it quickly turned into a nightmare. Manager Billy Davies left the club in November and his replacement, Paul Jewell, could only guide the club to a total of 11 points from their 38 matches - the lowest tally that a team has amassed in Premier League history.
Their fortunes didn't alter upon their return to the Championship, although they did find some solace in the League Cup, with victories over Lincoln City, Preston North End, Brighton & Hove Albion, Leeds United and Stoke City seeing them reach the semi-final stage of a major competition for the first time since 1976.
Even so, before they took on Manchester United for a place at Wembley, Jewell resigned, with many people believing that he jumped before he was pushed. His successor, Nigel Clough, was in the stands at Pride Park for the first leg, which was played five years ago today.
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United arrived in the East Midlands as Premier League and European champions, while the home side were battling against the threat of relegation down to League One. Unsurprisingly, many expected a routine victory for the Red Devils, who started with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.
The Derby players, though, had a point to prove to their new boss. They started brightly and went close in the opening exchanges when Mile Sterjovski saw his effort hacked off the line by United defender Jonny Evans.
Nevertheless, Evans and his fellow defenders were powerless to prevent Kris Commons from giving Derby the lead in the 30th minute. The Scotland international found himself with time and space 25 yards from goal and proceeded to send a powerful effort beyond the reach of goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak.
United mustered just one shot on target during the first half, which saw their former keeper Roy Carroll comfortably claim Nani's strike from distance.
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Sir Alex Ferguson was clearly disappointed with his side and in the 63rd minute he called for Rooney and Ronaldo, who replaced Paul Scholes and Danny Welbeck. While the duo made an impact, neither was able to bring the visitors level.
In fact, it was Derby who went closest to scoring the tie's second goal. Commons skipped away from Evans, before sending over a cross, which Kuszczak failed to hold. The rebound dropped invitingly for Rob Hulse, but the centre-forward fired over the crossbar.
That miss meant that the Rams would take just a one-goal advantage to Old Trafford, which many felt would not be enough. They would find out two weeks later.
DERBY: Carroll; Connolly, Todd (Savage), Nyatanga, Camara; Sterjovski (Teale), Green, Addison, Commons; Hulse, Davies (Barazite)
MAN UNITED: Kuszczak; Rafael, Vidic, Evans, O'Shea; Anderson (Carrick), Scholes (Ronaldo), Gibson, Nani; Tevez, Welbeck (Rooney)
Liam Apicella
