Huddersfield Town vs West Bromwich Albion. Sky Bet Championship.
The John Smith's StadiumAttendance17,297.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Huddersfield and West Brom at the John Smith's Stadium as Daniel Sinani scored the only goal to seal victory for the Terriers on Saturday.
Saturday 20 November 2021 19:04, UK
Huddersfield struck a huge blow in the Championship promotion race as Danel Sinani scored the only goal of the game to beat West Brom 1-0 at the John Smith's Stadium.
The Town striker turned in Danny Ward's pass just six minutes in, to hand the Baggies a fourth straight away defeat on a miserable afternoon in which their skipper Jake Livermore was also shown a straight red card for violent conduct.
Huddersfield exploited West Brom's high defensive line, and Sinani was the chief beneficiary. Scott High found Ward in space and his square ball was slid home by Sinani.
Harry Toffolo was a lively presence down the Town left and he fired a left-foot shot just wide. West Brown were then caught flat straight from a long ball, and but for a heavy touch from Sorba Thomas Huddersfield would have doubled their lead.
Goalkeeper Lee Nicholls blasted a long clearance, and Thomas raced clear only for a poor touch to see the opportunity disappear.
Defender Kyle Bartley was West Brom's most likely scorer, and the defender had a succession of efforts scrambled clear.
Albion enjoyed a good spell midway through the half, with Matt Phillips turning and firing well over.
Matt Clarke wasted a great chance to equalise when he headed straight at Cedric Kipre and then saw his follow-up shot blocked on the line by Matty Pearson.
As the visitors pressed for an equaliser before the break Bartley again fired just wide from a corner, and then climbed highest to meet Conor Townsend's cross but his header was straight at Nicholls.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman almost hauled Albion level after the break with a stunning volley that flashed inches wide.
It was a much improved second-half display from Albion but the gaps at the back began to open up.
Ward should have sealed the win for Town midway through the second half after another slick move. Goalscorer Sinani this time turned provider, squaring for Ward to tap wide of a gaping goal from 10 yards.
Ward was immediately replaced by Fraser Richardson who scampered through but again Bartley cleared the danger, before the Baggies' hopes suffered a terminal setback.
Livermore was shown a straight red card for violent conduct after raising his foot in a challenge. Down to 10 men, Albion had one last go and Clarke saw his diving header flash inches wide.
Impressive Huddersfield held on for another home win, but Albion's away form remains a huge concern in their promotion push.
Huddersfield's Carlos Corberan: "It was a very important win. Every win has the same value, three points was the target. We knew how tough and how difficult it was going to be. Physically and technically and mentally it was very hard today. We knew they are a team that you can't lose concentration and focus against. They have three strikers and attack you in behind.
"But they are also very aggressive in defence and when they have the ball they want to get it to their strikers fast. I wanted to defend well and we did that better in the second half than the first. Our understanding was good but we couldn't impose ourselves enough and use the room they gave us enough."
West Brom's Valerien Ismael: "It was a strange game. You can lose a game and deserve it but today when you watch the whole 90 minutes it was a good game for us. Huddersfield punished us but from then on we controlled the game. When you have 20 shots you need to score. There were two penalties we could have had and a red card that was never a red card. But even with 10 men we tried to the end to score.
"We worked to the last and created but we need too many chances to score goals and it was the same at the start of the season. We dominate opponents but we need to score to win. We deserved to lose at Stoke and Swansea. Today is a different feeling. I would tell you if it was a poor performance but it wasn't. The work in training was good. We wanted more impact and penetration in the last third and we did. We just need that killer instinct to score a goal."
