Ben Brereton Diaz’s goal was enough to give promotion-chasing Sheffield United a narrow 1-0 win at Pride Park and increase the pressure on relegation-threatened Derby.
Victory keeps the Blades on the heels of leaders Leeds and leaves Derby in deep trouble at the other end of the Championship table.
This was their seventh-straight league defeat – the club’s worst run since 2008 – and while they did not play badly, they crucially lacked creativity in the final third.
Kenzo Goudmijn and Matt Clarke both headed over from good positions but Michael Cooper was not seriously tested in the United goal.
The visitors forced Derby into some early mistakes with Tom Cannon firing straight at Jacob Widell Zetterstrom from the edge of the box before Clarke had to be alert to stop Brereton Diaz’s run into the box.
Derby gradually worked their way into the game and forced Michael Cooper into a smart save in the 21st minute when Goudmijn hit a first-time shot from 20 yards.
But the home side were caught on the break seven minutes later by Harry Clark’s burst down the right and he picked out Rhian Brewster, who flashed a shot wide from 12 yards.
Derby had a couple of promising moments only for a poor final ball to let them down with Ebou Adams guilty of a wasteful pass when United were caught upfield on the stroke of half-time.
For their part, United would have expected to create more against a team in the relegation zone and they made up for that four minutes after the restart.
Cannon got in on the left and whipped in a low cross which Brereton Diaz turned in at the back post to score his first goal of his second loan spell with the Blades.
Derby had a good chance to level in the 56th minute but Goudmijn could not keep his header from 10 yards down.
Ben Osborn was the provider and the midfielder went close himself with a low shot from 12 yards that forced Cooper into a diving save.
The Rams were plugging away but needed more quality to really put their opponents under pressure in the closing stages.
United were looking relatively comfortable but with only a slender lead, could not afford to switch off and they almost did from a corner in the 85th minute, but Matt Clarke headed over.
That proved to be Derby’s last chance and boos rang out at the final whistle as the pressure increased on head coach Paul Warne.
