It would be fair to say that Martyn Waghorn has waited a long time to become Derby County's primary free kick taker. Waghorn joined from Ipswich in 2018 but has had nary a sniff of a free kick during his three years in Derbyshire.
Premier League loanees Harry Wilson and Mason Mount were the Championship's most dangerous free kick duo in 2018-19. Last year the ageless Wayne Rooney came onto the scene and demonstrated his world-class free-kick abilities. Waghorn has also been teammates with Tom Lawrence, one of the top set piece specialists in England's second tier, for the past three seasons.
Now, with Wilson and Mount gone, Rooney on COVID quarantine and Lawrence in and out of the Derby squad, Waghorn has finally been given a chance in dead-ball situations. And boy, has he delivered.
First came a rocket against bitter rivals Nottingham Forest:
No Wayne Rooney in the Derby team to take free kicks? No problem when you've got Martyn Waghorn!
This superb effort came in a 1-1 draw with rivals Nottingham Forest - but should they have had all three points?#DCFC @dcfcofficial @Mwaghorn_9 pic.twitter.com/K2VYGARbNy— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) October 24, 2020
Then, just five days later, Waghorn curled one home against another promotion hopeful, Cardiff City:
Martyn Waghorn’s free-kick for Derby County.
Not much you can do about those...: @QuestTV pic.twitter.com/IGSm8ZRZgK
— FotMob (@FotMob) October 28, 2020
It doesn't get much better than that.
Wayne Rooney returns from self-isolation for Derby's match against Bournemouth on Halloween, so Derby will have a real free kick conundrum on its hands. Normally I would say there's no way that Rooney could hit it any better than Waghorn has, but the former England captain has also done this within the past month:
Wayne Rooney has still got it
Watch his late match-winning free-kick for Derby against Norwich!Recap here: https://t.co/VPDICNiL4M pic.twitter.com/225CQ9YRBb
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 3, 2020
These free kicks have accounted for all but one of Derby's four goals thus far this year (through eight matches). Normal goals are overrated anyway.
