HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 0, MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (FA Cup 5th Round)
On the evidence of Huddersfield Town’s valiant efforts in the FA Cup against Manchester United they can expect better results from the encouraging work they put in tonight in against teams around them in their battle against relegation.
A lacklustre Manchester United, who created little on the night, soaked up the pressure from Town and scored early in both halves – both goals scored by Romelu Lukaku – to dump the Terriers out of the FA Cup and gain a small measure of payback for defeat in the Premier League last October.
There was even time for half time ‘entertainment’ as VAR disallowed a Juan Mata goal for offside just before the break but the Reds will be concerned about a lack of midfield imagination going into the business end of the season as they look towards the Champions League against Sevilla next week.
Jose Mourinho made six changes from the side that lost at Newcastle last weekend, with Sergio Romero, Ashley Young, Victor Lindelof, Michael Carrick, Scott McTominay, and Juan Mata coming into the side while David De Gea, Antonio Valencia, Phil Jones, Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, and Jesse Lingard stepping down.
United had earlier confirmed that Pogba missed out on the squad because of illness and this gave an opportunity for United’s U23 midfielder Ethan Hamilton, 19, to get a seat on the bench and his own squad number – 48. Hamilton was joined on the bench by Eric Bailly three months after ankle surgery.
Hosts Huddersfield Town made four changes, with Terence Kongolo, Danny Williams, Philip Billing, and Collin Quaner coming in for Scott Malone, Jonathan Hogg, Aaron Mooy and Alex Pritchard – with the latter two injured and cup-tied respectively. It was a relatively strong team for a cup game but David Wagner recognised the need to maintain Town’s recent momentum.
After all the recent talk about Paul Pogba’s ideal role in a United team, illness made up Mourinho’s mind for him and he opted to field a midfield trio of Nemanja Matic, Michael Carrick and Scott McTominay with width coming from full backs Ashley Young and Luke Shaw.
Although the rain began shortly before kick off United got an early goal after just three minutes to settle their nerves, with Juan Mata’s through ball finding Romelu Lukaku.
Early goal for United rocks the Terriers
The big Belgian turned Chris Schindler and slotted in at the near post to give the Reds a precious lead with his 20th goal of the season.
Town didn’t flinch and kept pressing United, with Philip Billing finding Tom Ince who screwed a shot wide of the back post with Collin Quaner choosing not to slide in for what might have been a tap-in three minutes later.
Quaner had already seen his early shot bobble wide and will have regretted the later hesitation as United’s left flank seemed ripe for exploitation when Luke Shaw was out of position.
Florent Hadergjonaj had seen plenty of action down Town’s right flank and after seeing several of his crosses go to waste he tried a 14th minute shot himself which Romero collected.
Another cross from the Swiss flier found Tom Ince in a superb position running in on goal but the winger mistimed his sliding attempt to connect at the ball slipped off his boot.
Town kept pressing and chances came their way although Williams can’t have hoped for much luck when his 40 yard shot was collected by Romero after 28 minutes while Philip Billing tried a curler from 30 yards five minutes later.
Decisions were not going Town’s way as they struggled to get a break against the Reds until just before half time when Ashley Young’s cross to found Juan Mata.
Huddersfield Town catch a break after VAR rules Man United goal was offside
The Spaniard rounded Lossl and thought he had scored but the Video Assistant Referees Neil Swarbrick and Andrew Garrett came to Town’s rescue, ruling out what would have been a cruel second goal for United on the stroke of half time with an offside decision.
The Reds had recorded just 43% of first half possession and 1 shot on target – their early goal – with the Terriers getting four of their eight shots on target.
Rajiv van La Parra made a mess of an attempted volley when Tom Ince found him from a free kick soon after the restart as Town continued to harrass the Reds.
Reds fans invade pitch after Romelu Lukaku doubles United lead
Holding a high line was always risky for Town though, and they were undone after 55 minutes when the Reds broke and Sanchez found Lukaku who had space to run deep into Terriers territory from just inside their half and pick his spot past Lossl with Town defenders in his wake for goal number 21 and his 11th FA Cup goal in ten games in the competition as fans from the away end joined their heroes on the pitch in a mini pitch invasion.
Town swapped their full backs Hadergjonaj and Kongolo for Scott Malone and Tommy Smith as the pace dropped in the last quarter of the game and Billing’s deflected effort tested Romero while United continued to struggle without a midfield creator.
It was Town who had chances to reduce the deficit late on, with Abdelhamid Sabiri heading over from a corner shortly after he came on for Van La Parra with six minutes to go and Steve Mounie’s overhead kick was well wide as they finished with a total of 19 shots on goal, 5 of them on target, to United’s paltry 5 – but they scored off both of their shots on target and came away from the John Smith’s Stadium having had just 46% of the possession.
In the end, then, the VAR decision was just a sideshow, and Town can get on with the business of preserving their Premier League spot having given United another tough welcome back to West Yorkshire even if the game didn’t go their way this time.
Huddersfield Town vs Manchester United FA Cup MATCH STATS
Huddersfield Town: Lossl, Hadergjonaj (Smith 70), Zanka, Schindler, Kongolo (Malone 70), Williams, Billing, Quaner, Ince, Van La Parra (Sabiri 84), Mounie
Huddersfield Town Subs not used: Coleman, Whitehead, Hogg, Sabiri, Depoitre
Man Utd: Romero, Young, Lindelof, Smalling, Shaw, Matic, Carrick, McTominay, Mata (Lingard 80), Lukaku (Bailly 90+2), Sanchez (Martial 75)
Man Utd Subs not used: Pereira, Darmian, Gomes, Hamilton
Goals: Lukaku 3, 55
(3860 Man Utd fans travelled to the John Smith’s Stadium)