Huddersfield Town stand up to Leicester City challenge with admirable grit but Stephy Mavididi strike sinks Terriers
It has been far from a glamorous summer for the Terriers, who have made two modest additions – an experienced goalkeeper and a defender on loan from a Championship counterpart.
Leicester City, on the other hand, have retained their Premier League spine while adding a couple of England internationals.
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The might of Huddersfield’s opponents was not lost on Terriers boss Neil Warnock, who in his post-match press conference said: “They’ve got a good squad. The guy who went to watch them for me last week said ‘they’ve got two teams to get promotion here’.”
However, it did not play out like a mismatch as Huddersfield’s grit made it a tricky 90 minutes to navigate for the Foxes.
In a frenetic encounter, Huddersfield showed little hesitation in committing bodies forward and testing the Leicester defence.
Despite admirable perseverance and flair in the final third, Huddersfield could not beat Foxes stopper Jakub Stolarczyk.
Stephy Mavididi beat Lee Nicholls at his near post with a low-struck shot after finding space on the left-hand side of the box.
Huddersfield upped the ante in the late stages and created some late chances but their efforts were in vain as the Foxes held on for the three points.
Speaking after the game, Warnock was buoyant despite having seen his side lose in frustrating circumstances.
He said: “I thought the three lads I wanted to come forward – [Brahima] Diarra, [Josh] Koroma and Sorba [Thomas], I thought they all did really, really well. [We were] disciplined, we had a plan of what to do when they had the ball because they’re so comfy. I thought we didn’t have that many major problems through doing it.
Although impressed by a range of performances, Warnock still outlined areas for improvement.
He said: “We probably could have been a little bit better on the ball at times, especially [in the] second-half. I thought two or three times, we had great opportunities to put somebody in.”
Huddersfield Town: Nicholls, Edwards, Pearson, Helik, Ruffels; Hogg, Rudoni; Thomas, Diarra (Jones 78), Koroma; Ward (Harratt 79).
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Huddersfield Town boss Neil Warnock has urged his side to put in a good performance against his old club Middlesbrough next weekend. The two clubs remain without a point at this early stage of the Championship season ahead of next Saturday’s meeting at the Riverside.
Warnock saw his Terriers lose 1-0 to promotion favourites Leicester City on Saturday, which Boro lost 3-0 to Coventry to add to the opening-day 1-0 setback to Millwall. However, former Boro boss Warnock saw plenty of positives in his side’s defeat, and wants to see more when they head to Teesside.
Huddersfield Town had gone toe-to-toe with the promotion favourites throughout the game until Stephy Mavididi beat Lee Nicholls at his near post, despite his powerful shot being hit straight at the goalkeeper. Warnock felt there were more positives than negatives to take out of running Leicester so close, and simply hopes those levels can now be maintained over the rest of the season…starting with the trip to face his most recent club Middlesbrough next weekend.
“I don’t just want to go out there and lay down. I think the lads…yes, they were disappointed, you could see the lads’ heads were down [at the final whistle], but there’s nothing to be ashamed of today, nothing but positive things, other than the goal.”
He added: “I enjoyed it. The last thing I wrote on the board was ‘enjoy it’, and I thought we did today. We covered every blade of grass and couldn’t give anything else. It’s disappointing to lose to a goal like that because I couldn’t see them scoring if I’m honest, but that’s football.”
Warnock refused to single out Nicholls for criticism, however, saying: “I don’t think I should talk about individuals. It’s a disappointing goal. You’ll have to judge for yourself when you see it back. I’ve seen it back from different angles and I’m disappointed with it.”
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