Huddersfield Town extended their unbeaten run with a comfortable victory over Peterborough United last night. While there were brief moments of fight from the visitors, it was an incredibly one sided game where Town dominated throughout. Incredibly, this win took Town into the automatic promotion places for the night. While Bournemouth’s games in hand mean it’s unlikely to stay that way it is still remarkable.
Carlos shuffled the pack with his selection last night and once again managed to field a team that was more than up to the job of dismantling the opposition. I can’t think of a time in recent memory when Town have had as strong a squad available. Even in the promotion season we relied on a core of twelve or thirteen players and the rest were pretty average (sorry Harry Bunn fans).
Anyway, here are my player ratings for the match.
Lee Nicholls – 7 out of 10
It’s hardly fair to give him a less than average score merely because he had so little work to do. The only shot on target he faced was what I would have referred to as a pea roller in my school days, which came in the dying moments of the game. Other than that, he commanded his box well, clattering his own player at one point to make sure he made contact with the ball.
Oliver Turton – 7 out of 10
Solid once more, making sure things were tight at the back first and foremost. He also put in a few decent balls into the box when he got forward to support attacks. When Pipa is back to full fitness there will be a tricky decision to make at right back as I don’t see how you can drop Turton when he’s been so reliable lately.
Matty Pearson – 7 out of 10
Another commanding performance from the defender, bossing the game and making sure Peterborough’s attacks were snuffed out without fuss. He’s an important player for us when Hogg isn’t on the pitch as he’s the next best person on the pitch to give a roasting to others if they let their standards slip. He performed this role well in the first half when sloppy passing risked letting Peterborough get into the game.
Tom Lees – 9 out of 10
An outstanding all round performance capped with two very good headed goals which came despite him still recovering from a nasty cut to the forehead. The deft flick for the first goal to guide the ball to the far top corner required delicacy whereas his second needed him to generate power to take the ball away from the keeper after Toffolo’s nod back across the box. Lees won 8 aerial duals on the night, significantly more than any other player and looked composed and comfortable on the ball too.
Harry Toffolo – 7 out of 10
Provided an outlet down the left flank and strayed in field to create overloads at times too. Not everything he attempted came off but he kept plugging away anyway and notched another assist with his clever header to set up Lees for the third goal.
Sorba Thomas – 7 out of 10
Put in some very nice balls from wide areas and looked a threat. Not his most lethal performance but still managed to give Peterborough plenty to think about. I think Sorba is more suited to games where we play on the counter as that creates lots of space for him to run into and get in behind. With Town dominating possession it means there are fewer opportunities to use his pace.
Jonathan Russell – 7 out of 10
Even when he’s not doing anything overly ambitious, he’s very neat and tidy with the ball. His passing is crisp and well judged. He gets the ball moving and helps us progress out of defence and into the opposition half. This may seem like basic stuff but against a team that isn’t coming forward too much it is important to be able to get the ball forward quickly and is a clear advantage to playing Russell over Hogg, who is often too ponderous on the ball.
Lewis O’Brien – 7 out of 10
Another typical, busy, Lewis O’Brien performance. He only ever has good or really good games and this was just a good game but that’s enough. He kept showing for the ball, moving forward with it and making sure we didn’t lose it.
Duane Holmes – 7 out of 10
Ran with the ball nicely and helped link up play when we attacked. Completed more dribbles than any other player and contributed well when Town were moving the ball about in the final third with his clever movement.
Danel Sinani – 8 out of 10
Need a good game to repay the manager’s faith in him after a few indifferent performances and came up with the goods. His goal was a superb curling finish and the assist for Lee’s first goal put the ball perfectly on the defenders head. A lot of praise has been given for Thomas’ set piece deliveries this season but Sinani’s have been on a par at times. He still gave the ball cheaply at times but at others he showed a bit more craft and helped us to hold onto the ball in attacking areas.
Danny Ward – 7 out of 10
Another game where there were very few opportunities for Ward to finish off chances but he still managed to be noticeable thanks to his tireless running and link up play. I feel like a broken record when I say it but I’d like to see him and Rhodes playing together for an extended period as both seemed to do well when Rhodes came off the bench to partner Ward late on in this match.
Substitutes
Carel Eiting – 7 out of 10
Played further forward than we’re used to seeing when he replaced Sinani but still managed to exert his influence on the game. I love the way he always knows what he wants to do with the ball the second it comes into him and he’s generally very accurate with his distribution. Jon Russell’s emergence has limited his opportunities lately but surely he’ll get a full game against Forest on Monday to show what he can do.
Tino Anjorin – 5 out of 10
Based on this performance it seems that the Chelsea loanee needs time to adjust to Championship football. I was ridiculously excited to see him get onto the pitch and twenty minutes was enough time for him to make his mark on the game. Therefore I was a bit underwhelmed to see it didn’t quite come off for him. He was never quite in the right place at the right time and the game mostly passed him by. He’s coming back from a long injury and hasn’t played in the Championship yet, so it’s understandable that his first few appearances might be a bit subdued. One thing that surprised me was his physical size, he’s a big unit and as a result not lightning fast but looks pretty strong on the ball. I’d have thought he would be better deployed as a central striker rather than a winger but I’m just happy to see him get a few minutes under his belt.
Jordan Rhodes – 6 out of 10
As I mentioned above, Rhodes looked like a good foil for Ward and both seem like more of a threat when they play alongside each other. Was a willing runner and helped Town stay in command of the game.
A sensational start to the match with two outstandingly well taken goals; the passing was really very, very good initially, almost every pass was delivered with the ideal weight and in front of the recipient, such wonderful standards were not maintained, but another encouragingly comfortable victory ensued.
Sinani and Toffolo starred for the most part the former scored and created a goal and set up a right-footed Ward miss, the latter another Lees headed goal and a Thomas chance but the other three members of the back four were superior defenders, Holmes was disappointing given the good situations he found himself in, Thomas was largely ineffective, but as you say still managed to look threatening, and wasteful for the most part, lacking composure yet again in front of goal on two occasions, Russell and Ward worked hard, but maddeningly lost control at times. Anjorin was given unserviceable balls to chase or compete with, so impossible to pass constructive judgement.
Peterborough having been allowed back into the game, built potentially threatening moments from midfield, but Town’s efficient and purposeful defending rendered them impotent when it mattered.
This was a pleasurably convincing victory. As the days and victories pass by the number of teams that could overall us steadily dwindles, if this unbeaten run is maintained who knows what the future holds.
Having just watched bits of Fulham v Blackpool, our win there, albeit thoroughly deserved, appears even more remarkable given the standard of football on display.
Oh dear Fulham V Blackburn!!
It’s unfortunate that Bournemouths next 3 matches are at home to Peterborough, Derby and Reading, the bottom 3 before they are away to Town. Lets hope they all start fighting to stay up and give Bournemouth a few problems.
Can a team spoil a contest by starting too well? If it’s possible, Town did it yesterday. Two-nil after seven minutes; not many teams come back from that.
That said, Town did contrive to give lowly Peterborough a foothold in the match by I guess complacency. Peterborough weren’t good enough to convert their half chances. Plus Town were decent in defence. Three-nil and the game was over for both teams.
Your scores – a couple I’d take issue with.
Holmes I thought was poor, very poor. Another right-footed player on that left flank – I can live with it but only if the left foot is a viable option. With both Holmes & Koroma I feel I can sense their relief when they make contact with the ball; finding a teammate with a cross for them is pure good fortune. No more than 5 from me for Holmes.
Sinani is difficult to score. I can understand why you’ve given him 8 – a good goal and a good delivery for an assist, it’s hard to argue. But there wasn’t much else I’m afraid with a number of misplaced passes. After those first 7 minutes, it was as though he said to himself “well, I’ve done my bit; over to you.” It’s a shame because if he’d really kicked on, we might well have been talking about a 9, or even that rarity, a 10. So he gets a 7 from me to match the first excellent 7 minutes.