Huddersfield Town beat Luton Town on Monday night in a victory that solidifies their position in the top six and leaves them in a commanding position. It was a hard-fought victory that relied on character and grit as well as a moment of exceptional skill and beauty to open the scoring.
Town and Luton are both unfashionable teams that find themselves competing at the top end of the table to the surprise of everyone in the football world. Both teams are well-organised, hard-working and tough to play against, so it wasn’t a surprise that things were very tight in the first half. The second half was more of a spectacle as Town took the lead then Luton won a penalty that was missed before Naby Sarr secured the three points with his headed goal towards the end of the 90 minutes.
Here are my thoughts on how the game panned out.
A cagey start
I genuinely think that Town deserved to win but the game was more finely balanced than the 2-0 scoreline suggests. The first half saw very little happening for either keeper to worry about but the way the teams grappled to control the game was intriguing. Luton sought to play the ball up field quickly to their big men and pressed Town high up the pitch when we had the ball. Town relied heavily on playing the ball out from the back despite Luton keeping tight to Town’s defenders.
The cat and mouse way Town drew Luton onto them and then tried to pass the ball around them produced mixed results. When it went well, Town’s crisp passing broke through the press and meant there were opportunities to push upfield and run into the spaces Luton left when they pressed high. That didn’t always work though and there was a 10 minute spell in the first half where Town couldn’t get the ball out of their own half and our passing became riskier and riskier.
Playing out from the back
Luton’s pressing paid off several times in the early stages and they won the ball back in dangerous areas but wasteful final balls meant Town got away with some fairly casual passing. Colwell and Lees were also reliably solid and mopped up a fair few mistakes from those in front of them; Pipa and Sinani were both guilty of not taking enough care with the ball when in possession.
The game ebbed and flowed in the first half and 0-0 was the right scoreline for a game where neither side did enough to open up the other. Luton had their moments but too often their crossing was wayward or they lacked quality once they got into the final third.
Jon Russell produces a moment of magic
In the second half Town came out the stronger team and managed to make several sustained attacks, though set pieces looked to be the biggest threat.
Then Jon Russell scored his superb lob and the game came to life. The set up was simple, Russell allowed Pipa’s throw in to run in front of him and he poked a toe end onto the ball and lobbed the keeper with aplomb. Stunning stuff and it was so outrageous a finish that there was a moment of silent disbelief when the ball dropped in before the stadium erupted. Tactical exchanges and clever build up play have their merits but nothing else comes close to the sensation of seeing your team score a quality goal in a vital game. Russell provided all Town fans with a goal they will remember a long time into the future.
Luton spring into life
After going behind, Luton suddenly showed a lot more penetration and purpose with their attacks. Town were forced to fall back into their defensive shape and soak up pressure. The fact they managed to turn it on for this post-conceding, pre-penalty period proves to me that they were deliberately keeping things tight prior to conceding and were maybe looking for a draw.
A soft penalty followed by a brawl
The penalty decision turned the game but in the end it was in Town’s favour. To the naked eye the penalty seemed very soft, with both players making contact with each other but barely more than the laying on of hands than a vicious assault. I’ll not dwell on the decision but I will say that Sinani was silly for putting his hands on a player in the box regardless of how the Luton player made a meal of it.
The missed penalty was met with a roar of approval from all sides of the John Smiths’ Stadium and they quickly turned to roars of outrage when Lewis O’Brien’s snide celebration in Adebayo’s face (I’m not buying that these shouts were aimed at the Cowshed) led to Kal Naismith forcibly shoving our star player to grass. The pushing and shoving match that resulted was fun to watch, even though you’re supposed to tut and condemn such behaviour. I have a suspicion Sorba Thomas may have been lucky to only receive a yellow for his involvement as the red mist looked to have descended from where I was standing and his arms seemed more raised than others in the mess of bodies.
Luton lose their heads
I say the penalty incident swung momentum towards Town because the melee that followed the missed penalty resulted in Luton collectively losing their composure and they looked mostly hopeless once play resumed. They became ragged and desperate and Town saw the game out comfortably, feeding off the frustration of their opponent and meeting it with calm dominance and provocative timewasting.
Naby Sarr secured the win
I have to confess that I was grumbling that Town shouldn’t be sending everyone up for an 89th minute corner and should instead have kept the ball in the corner and played for time. Like a complete hypocrite, I was going bonkers moments later when Naby Sarr’s stooping header crossed the line. While it may have seemed easy at the point he guided the ball home, the movement that allowed him to arrive at the back post unmarked was clever and well-planned.
The second goal was the cherry on the cake of a great win but Sorba Thomas had an great opportunity to put a further cherry on top when he raced through on goal and could either have gone through one on one with the keeper or squared the ball to Holmes who was charging into space. Indecision seemed to get the better of him, he dithered and chose to let go a fairly tame shot that didn’t worry the keeper.
A sloppy wave
The whistle brought further cheers from the crowd and a fairly slapdash “Wagner wave” in front of the South Stand. While I’m not advocating the squad practice their celebrations instead of set pieces during training, a bit more coordination with the waving wouldn’t go amiss. I’d be curious to get Carlos’ honest opinion about the celebration between players and fans at the end of the game. To me it’s a nice way to build the bond between the fans and the staff, extends the victory celebration and it winds up opposition fans so it is a good thing. Carlos was down the tunnel fairly quickly though, so I suspect, given that he’s a fairly understated person when Town aren’t playing, that he feels a bit awkward about it.
Regardless, Town collected all three points and only need a few more wins to be confident of a top-six finish. Momentum can be a fickle mistress but, for now at least, she seems to be back on the side of the Terriers.
I agree with you TS regarding the soft penalty, but these days they are given especially with VAR, obviously not applicable in this case, but I do wonder if this affects decision making lower down the food chain? The melee post-penalty as you say was good fun, but you’re right about Thomas he’s often a yellow card-in-waiting and I fear one day it will be red, this excitability, for want of a better word, is regularly reflected in his decision making with the ball.
A superb result with two very well worked goals, one brilliantly executed. Luton are a good team, especially when you take into account their injury issues and the additional ones incurred during the match; to overcome them was a satisfying achievement.
Town’s passing is definitely improving, the invention, speed and execution is clear to see although nowhere near perfect, even Hogg’s passing was reasonably accurate apart from a couple of incomprehensible howlers which could have lead to chances for the opposition; largely he was out of harms way with few opportunities to misplace passes or mistimed tackles, the big plus, his position allowed the fullbacks to operate as wing backs.
I was impressed by Adebayo apart from his missed penalty, he and Ward could have been an interesting partnership. Hogg dropping very deep was a successful ploy as he was rarely given the opportunity to commit senseless fouls, allowing Pipa especially to bomb forward in the first half although such incursions pretty much disappeared after half time and Toffolo also, if less prominent, but more frequently engaged
Even a meagre two points from the Easter games would leave our play-off position secure, but more would be better. Apparently O’Brien was voted man of the match by SKY which baffled me as he gives the ball away too frequently notwithstanding his energetic contributions, the same comment can be directed at Thomas who excites and infuriates in equal measure. Surely there could be just the one MoM, the chap who scored a goal to die for.