For 25 minutes, Soton were like Leeds. Pressing high and forcing us into mistakes. It then seemed we pushed our front 3 onto their back 3 giving a 3 on 3 situation. They countered by pulling their 2 wide midfielders back which gave us a numerical advantage in MF which we made good use of but, unfortunately couldn't find the back of the net except for that one second when Waghorn was half a gnat's knacker offside which was enough to rule out Bryson's goal thanks to VAR.

The 2nd half mirrored the first. They started the better, we finished the better. Their 1st started with Wilson being fouled out wide, ref didn't give it and the ball ended up in the net. They did look at VAR for the goal but didn't review the Wilson incident..... Their 2nd started with Hudds losing the ball in the centre circle when surrounded by 4 of them. Lovely move followed and Redmond chipped it beautifully over Roos.

That was the point that the Duracell batteries took hold of things. The energy was immense, the workrate excellent and the football was top drawer. We deserved the 2 goals we got to get back into it. VAR was again used on our 2nd goal which proved no Derby player was offside due to a stuck out foot from a Saints defender. In the end, the correct result was reached in both the Bryson goal and the Wilson goal. I would, however, question its use in both cases. The rules for the use of VAR are to correct CLEAR AND OBVIOUS mistakes. IMO, neither instance was clear or obvious so VAR should not have been used.

Extra time could have seen it go either way but neither side managed to beat their opponents keeper. On to Penalties. On to a repeat of Old Trafford. We win. On to Accrington where they are the underdogs and the game will be televised by BT Sport.

The title of this thread lauds Tomori and well it should. I would also like to mention Kelle Roos. 5 seasons at Derby and this was his 8th competitive first team game. He has been loudly criticised and doubted in internet fora for much of his stay at Derby. In his 2 most recent games, both against Soton in the Cup, he has let 4 goal in. He could have done nothing about those but did pull off some excellent saves. His performances in those 2 games should have eliminated people's concerns about him being good enough for the bench. So...... well done Kelle Roos.

..... and, yes, Tomori was our MOTM.