By Oliver Thompson –
Huddersfield 4 – 0 Reading
O’Brien (39’), Pearson (52’), Thomas (66’), Ward (68’)
Venue: John Smith’s Stadium
Attendance: 14,613 (402)
Huddersfield scored four and registered a clean sheet to seal the victory against Reading FC and move up to fourth in the SkyBet Championship.
PRE MATCH – Five changes for the Terriers
Huddersfield Town head coach Carlos Corberan named five changes to the starting line up from the side that narrowly lost against Premier League outfit Everton in the Carabao Cup.
Club captain Jonathan Hogg returned to the side with Josh Koroma and Danny Ward joining the eleven. Danel Sinani was handed his first start in the Skybet Championship and fan favourite Lewis O’Brien rounding off the changes.
For the visitors, a first start was handed former QPR winger Junior Holliet. Reading academy youngster Tom Holmes also moved into the lineup taking Tom McIntyre’s spot who was ruled out after last week’s defeat against Bristol City.
FIRST HALF – Terriers take the lead through O’Brien
Inside five minutes, the hosts began vibrantly, as left winger Sorba Thomas utilised his pace on Huddersfield’s right flank producing a low cross to find the feet of Josh Koroma on the edge of the box, who fired on goal only to fall into the safe hands of Brazilian goalkeeper Rafael.
Just before the half-hour mark, the Terriers came close through debutant Danel Sinani who fired a powerful free-kick 10 yards from goal, his effort curled past Rafael but hit the underside of the Reading top corner.
The deadlock was finally broken 5 minutes from halftime as Sorba Thomas beat Yiadom before crossing a low ball into the back which narrowly evaded Danny Ward falling to the feet of Lewis O’Brien who fired home.
As the whistle blew, the lead was narrow but with both sides having chances it was seemingly all to play for.
SECOND HALF- The Flood gates opened as Huddersfield grab three in the second half
In almost a mirror image of the first half, the Terriers started on the front foot. Sorba Thomas producing a dangerous curling free-kick following a foul by Tom Dele-Bashiru, the ball wasn’t dealt with and fell to the feet of Matty Pearson who poked the ball into the back of the net to double the home sides lead.
The flood gates began to open as Huddersfield’s bombardment of attacks creating fractures in the visitors’ defence.
Thomas, who had been a thorn in the Reading side all game, brought the ball forward from the halfway line, beating captain Liam Moore before striking a low effort past Rafael to add a third goal.
Just two minutes later, Danny Ward inflicted further damage to the visitors as Harry Toffolo played through Koroma on the left who used his pace delivering for Ward to tap in the fourth.
The play shifted for Huddersfield who reduced their attacking prowess and seemed to be happy within maintaining their mammoth lead which pushed the West Yorkshire side to fourth in the SkyBet Championship table, scoring 4 past their opponents for the first time since 1982.
Lineups
Huddersfield Starting XI: Nicholls (GK), Toffolo, Pearson, Hogg ©, O’Brien, Koroma (Holmes 78’), Thomas, Sinani (Turton 63’), Ward (Campbell 69’), Colwill, Lees
Subs not used: Schofield (GK), Vallejo, High, Sarr
Yellow card: Thomas, Lees, Pearson
Reading Starting XI: Rafael (GK), Yiadom, Holmes, Moore ©, Morrison, Laurent, Rinomhota, Dele-Bashiru (Halilovic 68’), Swift (Clarke 79’), Hoilett, Puscas (Tetek 79’).
Subs not subs: Southwood (GK), Stickland, Bristow, Sackey
Yellow card: Yiadom
Carlos Corberán’s Post Match Thoughts
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Head Coach Carlos Corberán was pleased with the result:
“I’m happy because we played good football…we added a performance to our competitiveness and played well.
“We found spaces where we could create problems, have three wins in a row is not easy in the Championship and until this week only West Brom had managed it.
“We played against a good opponent with a good first XI.”
Huddersfield town’s striker Danny Ward also grabbed his first goal of the season, and the Head Coach was more than complimentary of his performance:
“We wanted to play with a lot of motivation because sometimes when the striker doesn’t score for a long time it can affect them.
“He dropped well and made a difference and we saw one of his best games and we want to keep that going.”
Another player who registered on the scoresheet was Lewis O’Brien who has been heavily linked with a move away to fellow West Yorkshire side Leeds United. On his potential transfer Corberán mentioned:
“I can only tell you that the club made a big effort to keep O’Brien and I always appreciate that because he is a key player for us.
“He’s an example of what we want to create in this club from when he was in the academy to his loan at Bradford to what he’s done for us here.
Next Game
The result now means Huddersfield sit 4th in the Skybet Championship. Reading now drop to 22nd in the relegation zone. Nevertheless, the season is still early and it will be interesting to see if this was a stroke of luck or a sign of things to come for the Terriers.
Huddersfield Town will travel to Stoke next after the international break with the Royals hosting QPR on Saturday 11th September.