Derby County’s Under 23s opened their Premier League 2 Division 1 campaign with a defeat as Manchester City fought back from two goals down to claim all three points.

The opening game of the new season for the Rams’ title-winning group from last season also saw Marcus Olsson play 61 minutes as he stepped up his return to full fitness after struggling with concussion.

Charles Vernam scored twice for Darren Wassall’s side as they went into the half time interval having largely dominated the contest at St George’s Park and shown that they could match one of the top flight’s biggest sides.

Callum Guy’s missed penalty in the early stages of the second 45 minutes proved crucial as the Citizens then fought back on a glorious night in Staffordshire, with Lukas Nmencha scoring either side of Aaron Nemane’s cute effort.

Against a young Manchester City outfit, Derby started strongly at St George’s Park and quickly stamped their authority on the contest.

Timi Max Elsnik was particularly unlucky not to have broken the deadlock as he shot wide and forced a superb save from Billy O’Brien in the Citizens’ goal.

He did, however, have a hand in the encounter’s first goal. The 18-year-old midfielder’s initial drive could only be saved by O’Brien, leaving Vernam the simple task of bundling the loose ball into the back of the net.

Later, Alex Babos shot straight at O’Brien from the edge of the area, but despite holding a very firm grip of the game, City still looked a threat going forward.

Javairo Dilrosun went closest to grabbing an equaliser, sending a low drive skidding off the turf and narrowly past Jonathan Mitchell’s far post.

The Derby goalkeeper then had to make his first meaningful save to deny Paolo Fernandes inside the area as the visitors enjoyed a stronger spell of the possession and openings.

After riding that out, though, the Rams and Vernam deservedly got their second goal as the contest crept into added time after Kellan Gordon had been denied, as the forward swept a low shot with the outside of his foot beyond the onrushing O’Brien having exploited a large gap in the visitors’ defence.

Buoyed by their two-goal lead, Wassall’s side came out on the front foot for the opening stages of the second half but were indebted to Mitchell, who tipped an early Fernandes free kick on to the crossbar at full stretch.

In a frantic two-minute spell at the other end, the Rams should have added a third goal.

Babos was the first to be denied as he saw a goal-bound effort cleared off the line after City failed to deal with a corner, before Derby were then awarded a penalty for a foul inside the area.

This proved to be crucial in the contest as Guy stepped up, but saw his spot kick turned over the crossbar, somehow, by O’Brien’s legs after he was seemingly beaten. Not only had the hosts failed to add the killer third goal, but it also sparked a fight back from the Manchester City.

After Olsson’s game came to an end, the visitors halved the deficit with Nmencha squeezing a lot shot underneath Mitchell after being found by a right wing cross.

Now bossing the possession, City poured forward in a relentless manner and after Dilrosun cleared the crossbar, Nemane found an equaliser as he bent a low effort around Mitchell and into the far corner of the goal.

The visitors weren’t done there either as Nmencha completed the comeback with another low finish and leaving Wassall’s side trailing with 13 minutes remaining.

Despite chasing the game, Mitchell was called into action to ensure City didn’t get a fourth as he denied Diallo. Derby pushed deep into added time with a series of set plays but were thwarted in their attempts to find a late equaliser as they began their season with a narrow defeat, despite their efforts against a hugely talented young City line-up.

Derby County U23s: Mitchell, Santos (Wassall, 76), Olsson (Macdonald, 61), Guy, Rawson, Hanson, Gordon, Elsnik, Jakobsen, Vernam, Babos (Walker, 82)

Substitutes not used: Barnes, Cresswell

Manchester City U23s: O’Brien, Horsfield, Humphreys, Oliver, Wood, Davenport (Diallo, 63), Nemane, Kongolo, Nmecha, Fernandes (Duhaney, 75), Dilrosun (Buckley-Ricketts, 84)

Substitutes not used: Grimshaw, Kigbu

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