Brentford vs Huddersfield Town. Sky Bet Championship.
Griffin ParkAttendance11,727.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at Griffin Park
Saturday 2 November 2019 19:04, UK
Huddersfield stretched their unbeaten run to seven games with a 1-0 win in the battle of the Sky Bet Championship's form sides at Brentford.
Karlan Grant's ninth goal of the season was enough for the Terriers as he crashed home a low drive just past the hour mark.
Fraizer Campbell chased a ball down the left and pulled it back for Grant to fire home across Bees goalkeeper David Raya and into the far corner after 62 minutes.
It was harsh on a Brentford side who probably deserved a draw on the balance of chances, but Town defended resolutely and always looked a threat on the break.
The hosts were the first to show in the seventh minute, with a neat three-man move ending with Bryan Mbeumo crossing from the right into the path of Christian Norgaard whose first-time effort flew over when he could easily have taken a touch.
Ollie Watkins twice worked good positions in the opening minutes but was pulled back for offside as Huddersfield kept a disciplined line at the back, with Christopher Schindler and Tommy Elphick both outstanding.
The Terriers repeatedly tried to exploit the space in behind the Bees defence in a first half played largely around the halfway line. They always looked dangerous, with Grant's trickery playing off Campbell giving the home defence plenty to think about.
The former Charlton striker thought he had given his side the lead on the half-hour as Brentford backed off and his precise low shot looked destined for the bottom corner until Raya's fingertips pushed it wide.
Said Benrahma posed problems at the other end and his blistering goal-bound drive was blocked by Jonathan Hogg as the Bees went in search of a breakthrough.
Town might have gone in ahead at the break when Juninho Bacuna's low cross into the corridor of uncertainty was inches away from the toes of Campbell, Grant and Elias Kachunga.
Benrahma worked an opening just after the break, but his low drive after an exquisite Watkins lay-off swerved wide at the last second.
The pair combined again moments later but this time Benrahma's shot was too close to relieved Town goalkeeper Kamil Grabara.
Mbeumo blazed over after good build-up play from the Bees as they surged forward in wave after wave of attacks, but always just lacked the final ball to punish the Yorkshiremen.
Brentford's best chance came just before the hour. Henrik Dalsgaard's right-wing cross found the head of Julian Jeanvier, only to be palmed clear by Grabara.
Then came Town's sucker punch as they exploited the space left at the back by Thomas Frank's side and Campbell held it up for Grant to apply the killer finish.
Huddersfield were dropping deeper and deeper and Benrahma, now playing further forward, was enjoying more time and space but the visitors still looked equally likely to score.
Adama Diakhaby swept a late effort wide on the counter before Benrahma almost provided a thrilling finale in the six added minutes with a speculative shot from the right that almost caught the keeper out.
But in the end Town remained resolute and made it four wins in their unbeaten last seven to move up to 18th, six points clear of the bottom three.
Brentford's Thomas Frank: "They wanted to play for a 0-0 and make a goal on the counter or a set piece and you could say in a pragmatic world that their game plan worked, but if we had got the first goal it would have been a totally different game.
"Refs must be much stronger in dealing with some of the elements of disrupting play that we see. I'm not saying that we will never do that, but you have to ask what kind of game we want. I think we want to see a quick-moving game. The referee has not helped us, but having said that he wasn't the reason we lost the game."
Huddersfield's Danny Cowley: "We are in place where we're not read to outplay opposition like Brentford and if you can't, you have to outrun, outwork and outfight them. Our attitude to defending and working hard was first class and it helped disrupt their rhythm and fluency.
"We had a meeting and gave the boys two options on how to approach the game. We decided to press them aggressively on a tight pitch and we didn't think we could allow them to get settled in the game because if they do they are very difficult to stop."
