The Championship is very much an international affair these days and it took a Dutchman’s goal to maintain the smile on his German-American manager’s face and deliver a first English defeat for the Italian in the opposite dugout.
Rajiv van La Parra’s opportunism in the sixth minute, sweeping home his first Huddersfield goal against his former club, massaged the club’s fine start to the season into their best in 64 years.
Unsurprisingly, they are accepting David Wagner as one of their own after such an unexpected surge out of the blocks, but this victory over Walter Zenga’s Wolves was not so much about their attacking verve as their defensive tenacity.
While their flowing football won plaudits on the road at Newcastle and Aston Villa, it was the ability to protect a lead that saw Wagner’s men surpass the start made by the Huddersfield vintage of 1969-70. That season ended in promotion to the top flight. Not since December 1999 have they sat on top of the second tier, and their stay at the summit will last another fortnight at least owing to the international break.
“There are different ways to win – this was a different one to our others this season and I will take every victory I can,” Wagner said. “The first half was outstanding, one of the best 45 minutes we have played. We were very sharp, organised behind the ball and quick in our reactive pressure.”
Huddersfield is hardly a sporting mecca, but they are getting accustomed to toasting successes with unapologetic fervour. At half-time, there was a rousing reception for another of their own, Ed Clancy, the gold medal-winning cyclist. Then, there was the post-match roar to signify another significant scalp.
Wolves have invested heavily since their Chinese takeover this summer with Zenga intent on having two players for every position. Nine players have arrived – the Dutch striker Paul Gladon, a £1m signing from Heracles, was signed too late to feature here – with a deal also in place for the Angers midfielder Romain Saiss.
Here, the charismatic Zenga – in his 16th managerial job in 18 years – maintained the core of the team he inherited from Kenny Jackett, with the Iceland striker Jon Dadi Bodvarsson the one new recruit to start. But they could not live with Huddersfield’s energetic opening: Kasey Palmer, the on-loan Chelsea youngster, provided the intricate pass that teased its way between the feet of Danny Batth, Nahki Wells took it into the area and guided the ball wide of Carl Ikeme. Although it rebounded off the base of the post, Van La Parra reacted first.
The squally showers around kick-off greased up the playing surface, suiting Huddersfield’s slick passing, and it looked likely more goals would follow. Palmer, who lasted 57 minutes before going off, was full of invention and occasional audacity, such as the 20-yard clip with the outside of his right boot that forced Ikeme into action.
At that point, Ikeme’s opposite number, Danny Ward, had watched a couple of George Saville efforts sail off target. However, although Joe Mason had the ball in the net at the end of the first half, only for an offside flag to scrub it off, Wolves’ attacking threat was improved by the introduction of João Teixeira at the start of the second.
Ward was forced into his first save seven minutes after the restart when Matt Doherty, the left-back, bundled his way through the Huddersfield defence and rasped in a cross-shot. Soon afterwards, Teixeira clipped the outside of the post from 20 yards.
Try as they might, Wolves could not force the ball the other side of it – although a stupendous reflex reaction from Ward played its part when Bodvarsson’s header from a 68th-minute corner was repelled low to the goalkeeper’s left.
Mason then had a penalty claim dismissed when he hit the turf under a challenge from Hudson.
“In the second half there was only one team on the pitch without doubt,” Zenga said. “We lost the game, but we didn’t deserve to lose.”
