Huddersfield Town managed to cling on to a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at the John Smith’s Stadium. A red card for Christopher Schindler meant Town had to play 30 minutes with ten men.
It was another excellent team performance and yet another memorable game for the fans. Here are my ratings for each of Town’s players. Nobody had a bad game, and some of them were superb.
Lössl – 8 out of 10
Made two vital saves late on to secure the win. Rarely tested otherwise but his distribution was excellent and he commanded his box well.
Malone 8 out of 10
Played very high up the pitch and made some great runs. He’s more of a threat going forward than Löwe and added something extra to our attacks.
I don’t know if it was injury or fitness that saw him subbed late on, but it’s the second time he’s not finished a game he’s started. Having to sub defenders means there’s one less chance to freshen up our attacking options from the bench, so I hope he’s able to finish games he starts.
Schindler – 7 out of 10
Had a tough test against a physical dirty opponent in Robson-Kanu. The ref made matters worse by failing to punish the kicks, shoves and shirt pulls that Schindler was subjected to.
The sending off seemed harsh but fair from where I was sat. He was probably fouled first before committing the foul for the initial booking but he did drag his man down. The second looked like a poorly-timed challenge and he might have gotten away with a different ref, but Roger East punished Town for every slight thing, so didn’t hesitate in giving him a second yellow.
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Zanka – 9 out of 10
A great performance from Zanka. Made tackles, headers and interceptions at vital moments. He was particularly impressive in leading the defence when Schindler was off the pitch.
I don’t think he played badly early in the season, but he’s really improved as he’s gained more Premier League experience.
Hadergjonaj – 7 out of 10
Made some good runs down the wing and added more pace to the team. He made some good tackles too.
A few times he looked nervous and perhaps chose the safe option instead of being more ambitious. I hope he gets a run of games so he can build on this performance.
Hogg – 8 out of 10
Did the dirty work in front of defence very well. He did a good job of screening Rodriguez and nullified West Brom’s biggest creative threat.
He ran his socks off, as ever, and was instrumental in keeping things tight at the back when we were down to ten men.
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Mooy – 9 out of 10
Showed his class on the ball and was involved in a lot of our build-up play. He used his range of passing to switch play and start off attacks.
He had a different role after the red card, playing further up and taking pressure off the defence with counter-attacking runs.
Ince – 8 out of 10
Still no goal, but another great contribution to the team. He had a few shots but didn’t look like scoring from them. Some of his runs were excellent and he made some good tackles too.
van La Parra – 9 out of 10
What a strike for his goal! His technique was spot on and it was perfectly placed in the top corner.
Aside from scoring, he was a constant threat and popped up all over the place. A bit unlucky to be subbed but tactical changes were needed after Schindler was sent off.
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Kachunga – 7 out of 10
He interchanged well with the other attackers and got closer to Depoitre than he has in recent games, looking for flick ons and offering an option to the big striker. Like Ince, I think he’ll perform better once he’s scored a few goals and has a bit more confidence.
Depoitre – 9 out of 10
Worked incredibly hard and won a lot in the air. When town had 11 men he had much more support from the attacking three behind him and he thrived on having other players around him.
He had a few fancy flicks and one back heeled pass that was sublime. I hope his performance helps him get on the pitch for Belgium, because he deserves a run out for his country based on his performances for Town.
Substitutes
Williams – 8 out of 10
Played in central defence and helped to cling on to our single goal lead. It’s not his natural position but he did a good job of breaking up West Brom’s attacks and clearing the ball downfield.
Cranie – 7 out of 10
Made a few good clearances and blocks late on and looked OK. Some clearances went straight back to West Brom players, which added a bit of pressure but he looked solid.
Löwe – 7 out of 10
He was a bit unlucky to lose his starting position to Malone, but he did well when he came on. While it wasn’t a tactical substitution, I think Löwe is a better defensive player than Malone, so it suited the circumstances to have him close out the game.
I feel like dishing out a MOTM award to every one of them, it was a team effort TerrierSpirit – pride, passion, desire – everything that has to be shown on the grass to achieve. Lössl in particular I can’t give enough credit for the match-winning saves. We have to sign the man up because he’s the match winning type of goalie and he just has qualities you can’t admire enough. He edges Danny Ward in the quality department, but we won’t forget Ward and his herioics. RVLP is inconsistent and doesn’t produce on the regularity I’d ideally like him to, but wow 😮 a strike that was mesmerising. A strike fitting to win any game. More points on the board in our atmospheric and indestructible fortress, and more pleasingly against a team that could be a relegation candidate. Just fix the away form. I am critical of it because I’m concerned about it. Moments at home like this are to savour and we’ll want to pick up the bulk of points that can keep us safe at home, but away form I want this effort and team spirit on show. Home and away matches are different atmospheres and results are not guaranteed as you’ve said TerrierSpirit away. However, away points really are bonuses when you register them.
Are you off to the seaside TerrierSpirit? What a shame the international break has come when momentum is this high. They can harm the momentum, but here’s hoping we continue where we left off before two arguably difficult oppositions in Man City and Arsenal in back-to-back games.
Schindler didn’t have to tackle like he did as he was walking on a displinary tightrope. You have to watch yourself when you are on the edge of being given your marching orders; however, he’s still our unbelievablely talented CB whose transfer value is surely on the up. The ref had a mare – Mr East does seem to frustrate us when he officiates us. He should be reffing Championship matches in my opinion, but the inconsistency in too high in a lot of officials in the Prem. I thought the officiating standards were bad enough too.
in the Championship were bad enough too*
inconsistently is too high*
Will there be any articles over the international break TerrierSpirit?
I’m not sure if I’ll have time for another article but I’ve got a few things I’d like to write about Saturday’s game. Particularly about how David Wagner got his tactics just right.
I just feel that during an international break, what can possibly be wrote about when we haven’t as a game to preview/discuss. Your articles are mind-blowing, a breath of fresh air and just unique. Some of the articles over at the Examiner are just for clicks. They try to entice the internet user to open some of the irrelevant articles to generate traffic and increase the times it’s been read. Not all of the articles are not newsworthy and are wrote not to everyone’s tastes.
Thanks Chris, lovely comment. I like some of the Examiner’s stuff, particularly the podcast. Other articles are obviously not worth writing about.
In fairness to them, they need the clicks to pay their wages. I do this as a hobby, so can write whatever I like.
Hi Chris. Family commitments mean I can’t make it to the Bournemouth game. I’d love to be there but will have to settle for trying to watch on a stream.
That’s a bit of a shame for you – I’m going and I have been to every ground so far. I’m a P2, I’m proud and I’m living up to my status in this priority system. The P1s and 2s have been the most loyal to the club and I’m a SC Holder of seven seasons. It’s a long way to travel, so I just hope for once on a journey that takes hours (setting off from the stadium at 7am, I travel with HTSA) we have three points to cheer. You know I’m fussed about the away form. I just want that balance of home and away points but, yeah, I appreciate playing away is a whole different kettle of fish.
I like the Examiner – I contribute to their post-match comments as I send one in after every match and I can be in the paper on the Monday after the match or displayed on their website with the other contributors’ thoughts. If someone doesn’t like their content, they should just stay away. I appreciate not all of their content will be to people’s liking and their content has variation, so there’s a bit of everything to their content. Your content varies too so it offers a lot and, talking of your content, will anything be posted over the international break?
Oh sorry, I forgot you answered my question about a post over the international break. I would have liked us to attack a bit more after the dismissal of Schindler but, I appreciate it would have left us vulnerable with one less man on the pitch, and we still got the job done without our star defender Schindler. It was a backs-against-the-wall showing and you don’t have much of a choice when you have had a man sent off. Not easy on the heart rate, the fans’ hearts will have been pumping ten to the tone as it was so nail-biting. I like how Lössl has got back to the early season form. All keepers have dips in their form. He must be signed on a permanent – quality, quality keeper.
haven’t got a game to discuss/preview*
haven’t got a game to preview/discuss*
Not all of the articles are newsworthy*
(these have been corrections to the comment from yesterday)