Huddersfield Town fielded two almost completely different lineups in their 3-1 victory against Lyon, so I’ve broken the player ratings up into two articles. Here’s my run down of the player ratings for the team that played in the second half.
It’s trickier to give an accurate assessment of the second half performances, as Lyon made a sequence of substitutions that completely unsettled the game. Town were actually fairly poor for the first fifteen to twenty minutes of the half, but after the substitutions we enjoyed our most dominant spell of the game. Was this because Town improved or Lyon got worse? It’s hard to say.
Ben Hamer – 8 out of 10
Deserved his man of the match award for his performance. In the second half he pulled off an incredible save, low down in the bottom corner. It looks like Lössl is going to have stiff competition this season, which can only be a good thing for Town.
Tommy Smith – 6 out of 10
Pressed well against Lyon and forced them into mistakes. Also looked dangerous when he broke forward.
Michael Hefele – 7 out of 10
Pulled off a wonderful tackle to stop a Lyon attack dead in its tracks. He looked a little bit slow when Lyon’s attackers were running at him, but made sure they didn’t get past him.
Terence Kongolo – 8 out of 10
Put under pressure a few times but always looked cool and composed. He’s a player that oozes class and his presence on the pitch makes Town look like a better defensive unit as a whole. I’m still a bit shocked he’s now properly our player.
Scott Malone – 6 out of 10
Did a reasonable job of soaking up pressure and didn’t make any mistakes I can recall. However, I don’t remember that many overlapping runs either. He seemed a bit like he was going through the motions.
Jonathan Hogg – 7 out of 10
Busy in the middle of the park and closed down space well. I could cut and paste this assessment into every player ratings article for Hogg and I’d be right at least 95% of the time. That consistency is not such a bad thing though.
Philip Billing – 8 out of 10
Showed strength to win the header at the corner that lead to Town’s opening goal. He then made a great run through midfield and played an inch-perfect through ball for Laurent Depoitre’s second goal. Some of his other passing was also top notch. Could this be the year that Billing really makes a name for himself?
Rajiv van La Parra – 7 out of 10
Looks sharp and got into good positions. None of it actually lead to a great deal, but had at least one good shooting opportunity, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Alex Pritchard – 8 out of 10
Could have gone for goal himself, but unselfishly (and skillfully) picked out Laurent Depoitre for Town’s second goal. I love watching Pritchard on the ball, he’s the sort of player that makes the other players around him look better too.
Collin Quaner – 7 out of 10
Another player that gave the team exactly what you’d expect, worked hard, was direct with his running, and managed to break through Lyon’s defence on a couple of occasions. His ability on the ball is always going to be limited and his finishing isn’t composed, but I still feel happy whenever I see him playing for Town.
Laurent Depoitre – 8 out 10
Took both of his goals well and looked a threat whenever he got on the ball. He needed two attempts to finish the first goal, as he blasted his initial shot straight at the keeper but guided it home when the ball bounced straight back at him. The second goal was pure class, latching onto Billing’s great through ball, and finishing with aplomb.