David McGoldrick steals the show but keeping key Derby County man will be great business

Derby County made it two wins out of two in pre-season as another impressive performance secured a 1-0 win over Hertha Berlin.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing opened the scoring in the 38th minute with a composed finish after David McGoldrick saw a shot cannon off the upright. Rams goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith had a quiet opening 45 minutes as Curtis Davies and James Chester both enjoyed a solid first half.

But Wildsmith was beaten when Dodi Lukebakio hit the upright with a fine curling effort after the break which was the closest the visitors came to scoring all afternoon. Jason Knight hit the post in return for Derby with a low free-kick as the midfielder in what was a classy performance from the Republic of Ireland international.z

Despite making a series of changes, Derby comfortably saw out the win as they also secured another clean sheet. Here Leigh Curtis looks at the main talking points from the weekend victory over the Bundesliga side.

The former Sheffield United striker may not be blessed with an abundance of pace, but his speed of thought was hugely impressive. Deployed alongside James Collins in a 4-4-2 formation, the striker played with a great deal of intelligence which underlined why Derby had been so keen to sign him.

It was an education for any aspiring front player in terms of his awareness as he dropped into pockets of space and his positioning was a class above. He played a huge role in the winner as he danced past a challenge before being denied by the goalkeeper and then the post.

Fortunately, when the rebound came to Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, the winger was not just composed but also clinical in applying the finish. McGoldrick only played 45 minutes as Derby continue to work on his fitness, but he was an absolute