Huddersfield Town 2, Bristol City 1
Chris Willock scored a spectacular goal on his full debut for Huddersfield Town as they beat promotion-chasing Bristol City at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Embed from Getty ImagesKarlan Grant doubled the Terriers’ lead in the second half from the penalty spot but they had to suffer a tense final few minutes as Famara Diedhiou’s late header gave the visitors brief hope of an equaliser at the end.
Three points against the Robins takes the Terriers up to 19th, 5 points clear of Wigan in the relegation zone.
After a slow start by both sides Town had a goal ruled out after Karlan Grant’s shot was blocked and Frasier Campbell tucked in the rebound only to be disappointed by the offside flag.
Campbell had moments before missed a volley and Town won a corner soon after that with a deflected shot off Chalobah which came off the post.
The Terriers took a deserved lead in the 39th minute after on-loan Benfica winger Chris Willock cut inside on his left foot and buried it inside the back post after his former Arsenal youth team mate Smith Rowe put a crossfield ball out to him.
Diedhou hit the post for the Robins with a low range low drive seven minutes into first half injury time – their first shot on goal.
Lee Johnson made a double change at half time, with Adam Nagy and Niclas Eliasson coming on for Filip Benkovic and Markus Henriksen.
While Bristol made Town’s defence work they did not trouble Jonas Lossl much, and they were soon 2-0 down after Smith Rowe was blatantly blocked by Nathan Baker as he tried to get into the area.
Grant nonchalantly made it 2-0 from the penalty spot after 63 minutes even though Bentley went the right way and almost got the ball.
Ex-Town player Nakhi Wells shot wide of the far post after Eliasson put him through soon after that.
Grant saw a shot saved by the leg of Bentley before feeding the rebound back in for Smith Rowe who blazed over from 6 yards out.
And the striker also blazed a late effort wide from 12 yards while Lewis O’Brien hit the side netting from an acute angle after Smith Rowe’s late shot was parried out by Bentley as Town went for a third.
Diedhiou’s 88th minute header gave the Robins a glimmer of hope and several nervous minutes of added time before the final whistle.
PLAYER RATINGS – Huddersfield Town 2, Bristol City 1
Jonas Lossl: 6. Spectator in the first half until he watched Famara Diedhiou hit the post. Flapped at a late header in by Jay Dasilva which allowed Diedhiou to score a late consolation.
Danny Simpson: 6. Supported the right flank when Chris Willock cut inside Solid defensively if not very adventurous.
Richard Stearman: 6. Up for set pieces and defended well at the back when Bristol re-organised after the break.
Chris Schindler: 7. Comfortable at the back, called into action during the second half.
Harry Toffolo: 7. Plenty of effort but crossing wayward at times.
Jonathan Hogg: 5. Injured early by the tough tackling Robins and tried to carry on but couldn’t and was replaced by Trevoh Chalobah.
Lewis O’Brien: 7. Also targeted by Bristol City. Sat deep and helped keep Bristol City on the back foot with surging runs in the second half.
Chris Willock: 8. Scored a great first goal for Town after cutting inside from the right. Hesitated a couple of times when more decisiveness could have seen a goal.
Emile Smith Rowe: 9. Behind most of Town’s best moves. Created Chris Willock’s opener and was felled for the Karlan Grant penalty. He looked at home skipping past lumbering attempts to foul him and could even had had a goal of his own.
Karlan Grant: 7. Scored a fortuitous penalty. Worked well with Smith Rowe and used his pace effectively. Could have scored with efforts from wide and a late chance 12 yards out but blazed wide.
Frazier Campbell: 7. Worked hard up front and might have scored several goals on another day. Tried a spectacular volley but mistimed it and then had a goal ruled out for offside. Faded in the second half.
Trevoh Chalobah (on for Jonathan Hogg, 33): 6. Put himself about in midfield after getting the call to come on early.
Juninho Bacuna (on for Chris Willock, 70): 6. Covered the right flank. Went for glory but radar wasn’t on.
Steve Mounie (on for Frazier Campbell, 74): 6. Gave Campbell a rest.
GOALS – Huddersfield Town 2, Bristol City 1
Huddersfield Town 1, Bristol City 0: 39. Chris Willock cut inside on his left foot and rifled the ball into the back of the net after receiving a crossfield pass from Emile Smith Rowe.
Huddersfield Town 2, Bristol City 0: 63. Karlan Grant nonchalantly made it 2-0 from the penalty spot after Nathan Baker blatantly obstructed Emile Smith Rowe as he tried to nip into the penalty area.
Huddersfield Town 2, Bristol City 1: 88. Andreas Weimann’s cross was headed back into the 6 yards box by Jay Dasilva where it took a deflection as Jonas Lossl went to punch it but the ball looped up for Famara Diedhou to head into the unguarded net.
MATCH STATS – Huddersfield Town 2, Bristol City 1
Huddersfield Town: Lossl, Simpson, Stearman, Schindler (C), Toffolo, Hogg (Chalobah 33), O’Brien, Smith Rowe, Willock (Bacuna 70), Grant, Campbell (Mounie 74)
Huddersfield Town Subs not used: Coleman, Pritchard, Stankovic, King
Booked: Toffolo 18 (rugby tackle on Jamie Paterson); O’Brien 70 (foul on Niclas Eliasson); Wells (dissent 90)
Goals: Willock 39; Grant 63 pen
Bristol City: Bentley (C), Kalas, Benkovic (Eliasson 46), Baker, Hunt, Paterson, Henriksen (Nagy 46), Rowe (Weimann 75), Dasilva, Diedhiou, Wells
Bristol City Substitutes not used: Wollacott, Williams, Pereira, Palmer
Booked: Benkovic 11 (foul on Jonathan Hogg and Frazier Campbell), Hunt (foul on Lewis O’Brien); Kalas 45 (cynical attempt to bring down Emile Smith Rowe)
Goal: Diedhiou 88
Referee: Robert Jones
Attendance: 19783 (356 Bristol City fans)