2009/10 DERBY 3 NEWCASTLE 0
Derby maintained their curious hold over Newcastle, equalling their best win of the season against the only club they they managed to beat in their wretched Premier League relegation season of 2007-08 and dislodging them from the top of the table for good measure.
Nigel Clough's side came into the game having failed to score in more games than any side in the division while Newcastle boasted the most clean sheets. Three goals in 23 minutes either side of half-time made nonsense of both records, leaving Clough to hail a "pretty special" win and Newcastle's Chris Hughton bemoaning a "big blow" and admitting his players were "very hurt".
Hughton, whose team had reacted to their previous loss, at Scunthorpe in October, with a 15-match unbeaten run, claimed the result hinged on a "soft penalty" awarded after a linesman adjudged Jonás Guttiérrez to have fouled Michael Tonge. Kris Commons' nonchalant spot-kick doubled the lead he had helped to create with the cross that Rob Hulse headed in late in the first half.
Newcastle thought they had equalised after half-time, when Andy Carroll converted Wayne Routledge's cross only to find Taylor had blown for a foul on the winger. Derby, unchanged for the first time in 13 months, built on their good fortune through Commons, and Shaun Barker volleyed the third to ensure Newcastle left empty handed, as Nottingham Forest had at Pride Park 10 days earlier.