Huddersfield Town 1, Derby County 0
Juninho Bacuna’s second half goal for Huddersfield Town raised the Terriers to a heady 7th while condemning Derby County to a sixth defeat in seven Championship games.
The Terriers rose to seventh in the league after earning ten points from their last four games under Carlos Corberan against a Derby side who offered little going forward and could only hit the woodwork late on.
Town sold striker Karlan Grant before the EFL transfer window closed, the West Brom bound striker hadn’t made any appearances for the Terriers this term, and reverted to a back four for the visit of Derby County with Christopher Schindler replaced by Fraizer Campbell who exemplified the kid of pressing and physicality that the Town boss wanted.
Veteran defender Curtis Davies captained The Rams in the absence of Wayne Rooney who had been forced to self isolate after being visited by a friend who later tested positive for Corona Virus.
Both sides started well, with Tom Lawrence driving a wide free kick into the side netting while Pipa curled a shot beyond the back post as both sides competed.
Town had the bulk of the early possession and created several half chances in a good spell of pressure while Derby wasted all the set pieces they won.
Embed from Getty ImagesErrors might have left to goals for both sides but neither side could create a killer chance.
Jonathan Hogg gave the ball away midway through the first half and almost fouled Lawrence trying to get it back, with referee David Webb waving away his penalty claims.
And Kamil Jozwiak curled the ball outside the back stick when Hogg gave it away again a couple of minutes later.
Pipa went for goal from wide on the right and saw his shot palmed over by David Marshall as Town looked to catch the Rams by surprise.
But Derby had their chances too.
Poor composure in front of goal costs Derby County at Huddersfield Town
Andre Wisdom shot straight at Ben Hamer in the Town goal while the offside flag came to the rescue when Jason Knight broke the Town lines as it looked like the Terriers would be the architects of their own downfall – again gifting Lawrence possession and getting lucky with Derby’s poor composure.
Pipa, Josh Koroma, Juninho Bacuna had efforts go narrowly over the bar as the Rams left plenty of gaps to exploit for Town.
Harry Toffolo’s cross early in the second half was begging to be converted but Campbell arrived late under pressure from Lee Buchanan and the chance went to waste.
Bacuna exchanged passes with Toffolo and slammed in the opening goal in the 53rd minute – his first goal of the season for the Terriers – just as the game threatened to devolve into a bitty contest.
Town immediately brought on club captain Schindler to match Derby’s three-man back line for the inevitable backlash from the Rams which fizzled out quickly.
Lewis O’Brien came on midway through the second half in response to Derby boss Philip Cocu bringing on Duane Holmes and Martyn Waghorn to pep up their anaemic attack.
Marshall required extensive treatment after colliding with Koroma when both went up for a cross as Town showed they were up for a physical battle.
Holmes could have equalised for Derby with a shot at the near-post but Hamer went down quickly to make the save as the Rams briefly threatened.
Ex-Manchester City youngster Deameaco Duhaney came on for Pipa as Town looked to see out the win and Naby Sarr saw his header tipped over by Marshall while Matthew Clarke hit the post with a header after Waghorn’s cross but the exhausted Terriers dug deep to hold out for the win.
Goal – Huddersfield Town 1, Derby County 0
Huddersfield Town 1, Derby County 0: 53. Juninho Bacuna opened the scoring for Town with a gallop up the field, exchanging passes with Harry Toffolo before breaking the deadlock with a goal from the edge of the area.
Match Stats – Huddersfield Town 1, Derby County 0
Huddersfield Town: Hamer, Pipa (Duhaney 79), Stearman, Sarr, Toffolo, Bacuna, Hogg (C), Eiting (O’Brien 65), Mbenza (Schindler 55), Campbell, Koroma
Huddersfield Town subs not used: Pereira, Pritchard, Diakhaby, Brown
Booked: Campbell 87 (foul on Curtis Davies)
Goal: Bacuna 53
Derby County: Marshall, Byrne, Wisdom, Davies (C), Clarke, Buchanan (Kazim-Richards 79), Bird, Shinnie (Waghorn 63) Knight, Lawrence (Holmes 63), Jozwiak
Derby County subs not used: Roos, Forsyth, te Wierik, Hector-Ingram
Booked: Byrne 84 (foul on Josh Koroma); Wisdom 90+1 (foul on Juninho Bacuna); Waghorn 90+6
Referee: David Webb