Huddersfield Town drew 0-0 with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, becoming the only team in the Premier League this season to stop them from scoring at home. It was a disciplined and resolute performance from Town, which saw them soak up endless pressure while restricting City to very few clear cut chances.
Here are a few of my thoughts…
The Berlin Wall worked
I’m delighted that we’ve managed to pick up a point against top-six opposition again, as we’ve turned in some fairly limp performances against the top sides. In previous games we’ve looked too shaky at the back when we’ve set up to frustrate the opposition, but it worked a treat against City.
The tactics had a big part to play in the result, as Town’s low block meant we sat very deep in our own half and didn’t bother with possession much. While it wasn’t pretty for the neutral, playing so deep denied City the space to get in behind our defence, and the midfield created a perimeter in front of the defence which blocked shots and broke up their possession if they got too close.
Town weren’t completely toothless in the match, in fact we had more shots on target (3) than City (2). But those attacks were carefully done, with plenty of cover at the back to break up any attempts from City to burst forward when they won the ball back.
Keeping shape
Town have produced quite a lot of 0-0s in the last 12 months (the most memorable being at Wembley) but I think the stalemate against City is one of the best defensive performances I’ve seen from Town.
Manchester City have some world-class players in their team and their movement and individual skill wasn’t able to break down Town’s defences. Every player on the pitch had a role to play and no matter how much City probed around on the edge of the box, Town always had players in position to close down and put pressure on the ball.
Watching a team like Manchester City tear their opposition apart and scoring five or six goals is entertaining, but I think the way Huddersfield Town neutralised one of the most skilful attacks in football was fascinating to watch. It’s not what the television audiences at home tune into the Premier League for, but there’s a kind of beauty in watching a team work as a unit and overcome the odds.
Mooy back to his best
This result was because of a great team performance, but it’s worth picking out one player for individual praise. Aaron Mooy has had a tough 2018 so far. He was deeply fatigued around New Year time and then received a nasty gash on his knee shortly after. He’s returned to the team since then, but his performances haven’t reached the level he set earlier in the season. Until yesterday.
Against City Mooy returned to his role as Town’s talisman. He worked tirelessly in midfield, closing down space and putting in important tackles. He also showed ambition going forward, bursting forward with the ball when he could and spraying balls around to find players in space.
This game reminded me what’s been missing from Mooy’s game lately and I hope this is a turning point in his season. Wagner has said in the past that when Mooy plays well Town play well, so two more performances at this level should be enough to secure Town another season in the Premier League.
City fans party spoiled by Town’s stubborn resistance
I was quite impressed with the City fans early on in the game. The flags being waved around looked nice and they seemed to be in good voice around the kickoff. I also enjoyed the back and forth between their fans and ours. We mocked them for being glory supporters, they mocked us for the 10-1 defeat they inflicted upon us.
It was surprising to see that the party atmosphere inside the Etihad dissipated once the match was properly underway. City fans have become accustomed to swiping aside bottom-half teams without breaking stride and it was inconvenient to the fans that Huddersfield Town didn’t follow the script.
By the time the game was 20 minutes in there was barely a peep from the City fans and the only noise that could be heard was the usual din coming from Town’s supporters.
Can Town survive?
Like many Town fans, I’ve agonised over the potential permutations we could face from the remaining fixtures. It’s possible that we could stay up even if we lose the next two games. It’s also possible we could get a get a point against Arsenal or Chelsea and it still won’t be enough to keep us safe.
Tuesday’s game between Southampton and Swansea will be key for Town. If Southampton fail to win then I think that Town will be in a commanding position going into the final game regardless of our result against Chelsea. Southampton will have to beat City to overtake us, and I can’t see that happening.
On the other hand, if Southampton get a win at Swansea then we’d need Stoke to do us a favour against Swansea in the final game, if we can’t get any points from our last two games.
So, in summary, I don’t know if Town are going to stay up but we’re in a decent position. It may be that we’ve already done enough, but the performance against City makes me think we might get a few more points anyway.