Irish eyes would have been on Euro 2016-bound duo Cyrus Christie and Richard Keogh on Friday night, as Manchester United visited Pride Park in the FA Cup, but rather than the giant killing that many, including the BBC cameras, probably wanted to see, the Rams were brushed aside with relative ease.
It didn't all go United's way, as Derby did level the score at 1-1 before half-time, but some poor defending resulted in a second and third goal for Louis Van Gaal's men, easing the pressure on the Dutchman in the process.
We took a close look at the Irish involvement, and here is our report:
Cyrus Christie
A bad day at the office for the right back as Anthony Martial proved far too pacey for Christie to handle.
From the first minutes of the game it became clear that the French winger would look to get one-on-one with Cryus The Virus at every opportunity, and he enjoyed a lot of success down the left wing for United as nobody seemed willing to offer a hand to the Irish international.
The low point of the evening was without doubt the third Manchester United goal, as after playing Anthony Martial onside (certainly debatable, but he failed to move up), he was turned inside out which lead to the assist:
Cyrus Christie has had his hands full tonight! Stephen Warnock again performing very consistently.
— RamsChat (@Rams_Chat) January 29, 2016
When Cyrus Christie pulls out the car park tonight, it would be entirely fitting if, at last sec, Martial nips through barrier ahead of him
— Sam Wallace (@SamWallaceTel) January 29, 2016
Match Rating: 3/10
Richard Keogh
Having sang Keogh's praises for his leadership and command of the backline in an Ireland shirt towards the end of the Euro 2016 qualifiers, I was very surprised to see Keogh fail to make a mark on this game especially considering the joy that centre backs have been having against United by sitting deep and staying organised in recent games.
Keogh struggled to handle Rooney as he drifted around in a lone striker's role, but he will without doubt be upset by being beaten to the ball by Daley Blind for the goal that make it 1-2.
Add to that a rather tame attempt to win a penalty near the 70th minute with some theatrics in the United box, and you have a forgettable night for Keogh, although he did put in a number of decent challenges.
Richard Keogh at fault for the 2nd goal too. He's not had a great week has he..
— Owain Thomas (@Owain_Thomas) January 29, 2016
As long as Richard keogh is a starting centre back at derby, Derby will be in the second tier.
— Gareth Icke (@garethicke) January 29, 2016
Match Rating: 5/10
Jeff Hendrick was introduced as a substitute late on, but did not have a chance to get properly involved so will be spared from judgement here.
Derby County have been on a poor run of form in the Championship, losing 4-1 to Burnley and 3-0 to Birmingham in recent weeks, and we're certainly not suggesting that the two Irish players were solely responsible for this result, but we had hoped with the big stage that was a Friday night FA Cup clash with Man United live on BBC, they would rise to the occasion.
It didn't work out like that.
Still, both men are yet to put a foot wrong in the green of Ireland, so hopefully that continues to be the case and their club form improves as we look forward to France in the summer.
