Season Review: A season of two halves for Huddersfield Town – Part 1

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Huddersfield Town, as their fans have somewhat come to expect, were once again in the midst of a relegation battle this season.

Last season an 18th-placed finish would see the renowned Cowley brothers sacked just days after keeping the club in the Championship, what seemed an impossible task after the club’s first eight games back in the second-tier.

The brothers were then replaced by a disciple of Marcelo Bielsa, Carlos Corberán, for the Spaniard’s first head coach role with the task of moulding a rebuild of the club, it was never to be an easy task.

Five Key Games

Swansea City 1 – 2 Huddersfield Town – 17th October 2020

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The Terriers’ season started against Norwich and Brentford as the first two league fixtures with the Town then facing another promotion candidate, Swansea City just five games into the campaign. After a win against Nottingham Forest and a draw against Rotherham, confidence within the squad and the fanbase was soaring.

The game saw the debut of the 3-5-2 system that Corberán optimised throughout the campaign, moving away from the 4-2-3-1 commonly associated with Huddersfield Town’s with previous managers, Danny Cowley, Jan Siewert and David Wagner all preferring the latter formation.

Just 23 minutes in, the Yorkshire outfit took the lead following a well-worked corner routine before Juninho Bacuna tried to fire the ball through the crowd of bodies but a neat flick from Harry Toffolo would see the Town go in front.

Swansea would equalise through a questionably given Andre Ayew penalty, but the game would be won by the Terriers after a piece of Josh Koroma brilliance. A ball from the right-hand side was chipped into Koroma, the former Leyton Orient man would then take a few touches before unleashing a driven shot into the bottom corner.

Huddersfield would again beat the Swans later in the season with a 4-1 result at the John Smith’s Stadium, being the only side to do the double over the side from South Wales this season.

Huddersfield Town  3 – 2 Middlesbrough – 28th November 2020

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Another key game of the season was the victory at home to Middlesbrough, the side showed their ability to come back into a game from a losing position. Neil Warnock’s side took the lead just 14 minutes in through Marvin Johnson following poor possession retention from the West Yorkshire side.

The away side’s lead wouldn’t last for long though with Ajax loanee Carel Eiting scoring a trademark goal from the edge of the box, recreating the goal he scored just a week earlier against Stoke City in the 4-3 defeat.

Town would then take the lead through a superb goal. Lewis O’Brien led a press in the middle of the pitch and successfully collected the ball before driving forward, creating a three-on-three scenario. With Isaac Mbenza to his left and Fraizer Campbell to his right, O’Brien opted to go to his right, with Campbell showing his experience with the finish.

The game would go back and forth for the next 35 minutes until a dreadful tackle by Naby Sarr would see Jonny Howson taken down inside the box, a clear penalty which was then calmly placed into the top corner by Britt Assombalonga.

Corberán’s side would reply instantly and credit is due to them for this, a searching ball from Toffolo would find Koroma, who shimmied inside beating his man before curling a sublime effort into the far corner.

Huddersfield Town 2 – 0 Watford – 19th December 2020

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Arguably one of the most impressive all-round performances from the Terriers this season was the game at home against Watford. Town took the lead early in the game with Mbenza capitalising on a Ben Foster mistake before passing to Campbell who fired home in the ninth minute.

Town doubled their lead 20 minutes later with Isaac Mbenza causing trouble to the Hornets defence. A tantalising corner to the front post was turned into the net by Watford’s Étienne Capoue would see Huddersfield take three points against the Hornets who sat fifth in the table at full-time.

This was arguably Ryan Schofield’s best appearance in a Town shirt so far, with five saves including a vital block from a James Garner attempt which really should have been a goal, but it goes without saying that the shot-stopper had a fantastic game.

With Town sitting midtable and in reaching distance of the play-offs this result was massive as it gave a sense of hopefulness that the second half of the season would continue in the same manner. This result also led to the extension of Carlos Corberán’s contract until the end of the 2023/24 season.

Huddersfield Town 2 – 3 Wycombe Wanderers – 13th February 2021

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The only loss of the games picked has to be the one against Wycombe, it proved that with almost 20 games to play Huddersfield were very much in the relegation battle, a win would have taken the side to 16th on 36 points, but due to the loss the West Yorkshire side sat in 18th, five points clear of the drop.

The Terriers took the lead inside 18 minutes through Juninho Bacuna and scored their second of the game through Mbenza in the 41st minute. Wycombe would score in stoppage time in the first-half through winger Anis Mehmeti to make it 2-1 and completely change the dynamic of the game with Corberán saying post-match:

“We should have scored a third goal at 2-0, then they scored before half-time and we lost confidence to do what we had to in the second half.”

Wycombe would score two in the second-half, a penalty from Joe Jacobsen and Josh Knight’s late winner from a set-piece scenario. Unchallenged the Leicester loanee fired into the far post and wheeled away in celebration, succumbing Huddersfield to their sixth loss in 2021.

Queens Park Rangers 0 – 1 Huddersfield Town – 13th March 2021

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Before this fixture, Town had not won away from the John Smith’s Stadium since October 31st – a 3-0 hammering over Millwall – and with the West Yorkshire side just six points outside of the relegation zone, everything was at stake.

The game also was one of the biggest for Carlos Corberán, with reports suggesting his role was at risk, and fans believing that the Spaniard was being too tactically naïve, a change of system was required for the game against the R’s.

QPR dominated the majority of the ball in the first-half but struggled to create much with the ball, with Huddersfield having three big chances through O’Brien, Richard Keogh and Mbenza.

The deadlock wouldn’t be broken until a sensational half-volley from Curacao International Bacuna, who fired the ball past Seny Dieng to make it 1-0.

Chances didn’t stop there with Yaya Sanogo, Duane Holmes and goalscorer Bacuna all having chances to extend the side’s lead, none successful but it wouldn’t matter as the side picked up three points.

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