And with that, I’m out. Direct your attention instead to Wembley, where Chelsea are playing Tottenham and Jacob Steinberg will take you through it.
Worrying times for Newcastle, though. They look woefully underprepared for the season ahead, and they need some new arrivals pretty badly if they’re to do anything at all this season.
What a wonderful start to the season for Huddersfield. Two wins in a row, this one gained against a Newcastle side who should be very worried. David Wagner’s side have already got about 15% of the points they’ll need to stay up.
Updated
Full-time: Huddersfield 1-0 Newcastle
Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
90 mins + 3: Manquillo jabs in a cross from the right, Joselu tries a spinning, half-overhead kick thing, but it loops up in the air and harmlessly through to Lossl.
90 mins + 2: A change for Huddersfield: Ince is off, and Michael Hefele is on.
90 mins: Four minutes added time. Another odd booking, as Lascelles goes into the book. One of those where he went up for a header, an arm was vaguely near his opponent and is thus deemed against the rules.
89 mins: A shot! Seems like it’s the first in ages, as a knock-down falls to Joselu, but his first-time volley bobbles and skips towards the goalkeeper with little real danger.
87 mins: Another rather harsh booking: Mounie goes up for a header with Clark, neither win it and after a collision, the Huddersfield man gets a yellow card.
85 mins: Dreadful stuff from Diame, who stupidly, carelessly gives the ball away in midfield for Mooy, who sets Quaner down the right. His cross is blocked and goes out, but at this stage Huddersfield will take the corner.
81 mins: A classic piece of Good Defending/Bad Defending from Lowe. He gets too close to Murphy, who thus spins him and has a run on goal, but Lowe’s recovering challenge is superb, blocking the goalbound effort.
Updated
79 mins: Nice visuals...
14 - Aaron Mooy's opener featured the most passes in the build-up of any goal scored in the @premierleague so far this season. Style. pic.twitter.com/RowoOHPvoR
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 20, 2017
And meanwhile, another sub for Newcastle: Jacob Murphy comes on for Perez.
77 mins: Booking for Palmer: a bit high, on Lascelles, but it was one of those challenges where he went to block a clearance, and the opposition player caught his leg on the follow-through.
75 mins: Ince pulls Manquillo’s pants down again, but his cross is cleared by Clark. Meanwhile, a change for Newcastle as Mo Diame comes on for Hayden.
74 mins: Huddersfield corner from the right. The cross is into a thicket of bodies, but it strikes Palmer, who didn’t know much about it, and it dribbles through to the keeper.
73 mins: Smart work from Billings and Ince down the left, some nice passes setting the former away, but his ambitious cross behind the Newcastle defence and aimed at the back post doesn’t reach its target.
71 mins: And another: Kachunga goes off, and Kasey Palmer comes on.
69 mins: Sub for Huddersfield: Colin Quaner replaces Van La Parra.
68 mins: A bit more from Newcastle now: Atsu and Joselu exchange passes very nicely, and the latter jabs a shot towards goal that Lossl paws around the post. And from that corner, the ball falls to Perez on the edge of the six-yard box, he hits a shot on the spin but blazes it over. A big chance missed.
Updated
66 mins: Another booking: Billings gets a yellow for a relatively innocuous pull back and challenge on Atsu. Soft.
64 mins: Booking for Joselu: he goes to close down Lossl, but leaves a foot in and thus gets a yellow. The Huddersfield keeper requires some treatment, but looks like he’ll be OK.
63 mins: And another. Merino pings a great long pass to Manquillo dashing behind the Huddersfield defence, he tries a volleyed cross but it’s easily cut out.
61 mins: A Newcastle attack! Well, after a fashion. Manquillo gets down the right, his cross is deflected and loops up, but Ritchie can’t direct a half-volley on target.
59 mins: It was on the cards...
2 - Two of Aaron Mooy's five league goals for Huddersfield have come against Newcastle (both at the John Smith's Stadium). Rasper.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 20, 2017
Updated
56 mins: Elliot punches a corner clear and Newcastle try to mount a counter, which they do through Perez and Atsu. A crossfield pass is aimed towards Joselu, but the man who took the original corner dashes back to make the tackle. Great stuff from Mooy.
53 mins: Another booking: Hayden wraps two of his legs around one of Billings’s, and of course receives a yellow for his crimes.
Updated
52 mins: Change for Newcastle: the broadly anonymous Gayle is off, and Joselu is on for his debut.
50 mins: Mooy drives towards the box from the left, plays a one-two with Kachunga on the edge then curls a beautiful shot into the far corner. Elliot had no chance, and he might politely enquire as to why his defenders weren’t more enthusiastic about their closing down duties.
GOAL! Huddersfield 1-0 Newcastle (Mooy 50)
Lovely, lovely strike.
Updated
47 mins: Smith overruns the ball, Mbemba collects but the Huddersfield man goes in for a challenge that, if he’d connected, might have taken Mbemba’s shins off.
46 mins: We’re away.
The players are back, they are prepared. No changes at half-time.
The half started pretty well, but petered out a bit. Huddersfield have been the better team, but Newcastle have had the best chance, when Lossl produced that brilliant diving save to keep out Ritchie’s effort.
Half-time: Huddersfield 0-0 Newcastle
Peeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
45 mins: Huddersfield almost strike right at the end of the half. Kachunga dispossesses a dithering Merino, slips a pass through to Mounie but Mbemba does well to snake out a leg and stick it behind for a corner.
43 mins: Gone a bit quiet, oddly. The sounds of two demanding managers, admittedly with the help of a sound-effects mic, is the loudest thing audible.
41 mins: Super japes as Lossl goes walkabout, finding himself way outside his box, and gets away with a scuffed clearance. Then Ritchie goes in with studs raised on Mooy, and for some reason looks surprised when he’s given a yellow card.
38 mins: Hayden finds himself on the right and crosses into Billings’s shins, and it goes out for a corn...no, wait, hang on, a goal-kick is given. Maverick stuff from the lino who was five yards away.
35 mins: Penalty shout for Newcastle: Atsu gets down the right, crosses low to Gayle at the near-post but Schindler gets there first. Gayle goes down with no little flamboyance, claiming the foul, but nothing given, and probably rightly.
34 mins: Van La Parra fouls Manquillo from behind then kicks the ball away when the free-kick is given. Feels like ref Pawson is making a deliberate effort not to book players, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
32 mins: Huddersfield are peppering the Newcastle box with crosses, looking for Mounie in the middle. They’ve been mostly dealt with so far, but sooner or later one will get through.
Updated
31 mins: Hayden gets a talking to and almost a booking for a lateish, sliding foul on Mooy. Meaty, but apparently not worthy of punishment.
30 mins: Free-kick for Newcastle on the left. As everyone gathers in the middle/towards the back stick, Ritchie smartly puts it low to the near, but Perez takes a swing at it and misses.
27 mins: Big shout for a handball from the Newcastle fans, but it was enormously optimistic: a cross to the back post dropped over Lowe to Atsu, who headed it into Lowe’s back. It might have gone close to hitting the upper part of his arm, but even if he did he was facing the other way.
25 mins: Rafa is looking more and more agitated on the touchline. Given the revelation this week that he corrects the grammar on birthday cards, you can understand why.
22 mins: Brilliant closing down by Mounie, blocking a lax cross by Manquillo and collecting the ball at the byline. He cuts it back to Ince but the first touch was iffy, and a poor touch sends it back to Mounie, who is offside.
20 mins: Mooy in-swings the corner from the left, Elliot comes out but flaps at the ball and Mounie is inches from getting his head on the ball. Would’ve been the opener had he managed a touch, there.
19 mins: Van La Parra lollipops his way towards Manquillo, who smuggles the ball out for a corner. Good game so far, this.
16 mins: What a save! Ritchie cuts in from the left, shoots with his right and it’s heading for the bottom corner before Lossl’s fingertips intervene to tip it just round the post.
15 mins: Not a brilliant minute or so for Atsu, who makes a mess of a pass near his own box, it falls to Ince who shoots with a decent amount of power, but straight at the keeper.
Updated
14 mins: Not much doing for Newcastle as yet: Manquillo takes a throw to Atsu, who just puts it straight out of play. Rafa’s not happy, and rightly so.
11 mins: Free-kick for Huddersfield out on the right. Mooy steps up, it’s half-cleared a couple of times then the Australian feeds Kachunga on the right. He clips it into the box, looking for Mounie, but Mbemba makes a vital headed intervention.
8 mins: A swift counter-attack is lead by Ince, which results in a corner. That finds its way out to Smith, who tries a shot from downtown but it goes way astray.
6 mins: Painful one for Hayden: Mounie goes in for a challenge with the Newcastle midfielder, who wins it on the ground, but the Huddersfield striker comes down on his thigh and belly with his studs. It looked accidental - Mounie was looking the other way, didn’t seem to realise how close his opponent was, but painful all the same.
4 mins: First effort by Huddersfield. Lowe gets down the left, skims a low cross into the middle, it makes its way out to Mooy about 25 yards out and he shoots, but it’s low and without much power, and Elliot makes a relatively straightforward save. Mbemba is fine, by the way: only a smidge of blood.
Updated
3 mins: Blood has been spilled: Mbemba, who is surprisingly at left-back with Clark in the middle, goes for a header with Kachunga. Or rather, Mbemba went for the header, Kachunga went for a chest-high flick with his right size ten, and caught the Newcastle defender in the temple.
2 mins: Early chance for Newcastle as Schindler can’t quite cut out a Gayle through pass, it deflects into the path of Perez but his shot is blocked by Zanka.
1 min: Premier League football in Huddersfield is underway.
The teams are out, we’ve got some teams, we’re about to get some football.
Updated
Plug plug plug...
@NickMiller79 Speaking of the old First Division your colleague Scott Murray's new book about it is quite brilliant: https://t.co/eyZGvtHsYE
— Hubert O'Hearn (@BTBReviews) August 20, 2017
Without wishing to get Newcastle’s excuses in early, it should be noted they are without quite a few players: Yedlin (hamstring), Dummett (hamstring), Lejeune (ankle), Shelvey (being a dope), new signings (Ashley). Joselu is there on the bench though, as is human battering ram Alexander Mitrovic.
Having a bad day? Not compared to this guy...
Epic moment last night in Romania. 96th minute. Newly promoted Juventus have a chance to get a point vs Steaua. Then this happens.via: Dolce pic.twitter.com/4COjNPtVdP
— Emanuel Roşu (@Emishor) August 20, 2017
Team news
Huddersfield Town
Lossl; Smith, Schindler, Zanka, Lowe; Mooy, Billing; Kachunga, Ince, Van La Parra; Mounie. Subs: Coleman, Malone, Lolley, Williams, Quaner, Hefele, Palmer.
Newcastle United
Elliot; Manquillo, Lascelles, Mbemba, Clark; Ritchie, Merino, Hayden, Atsu; Perez; Gayle. Subs: Darlow, Saivet, Aarons, Diame, Murphy, Joselu, Mitrovic.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Preamble
April 22, 1972 was the last time Huddersfield Town played a home game in the top flight. That day, at Leeds Road, they lost 1-0 to Wolves, a defeat that all-but sealed their relegation from the First Division, a single goal scored by Steve Daley for a side who were half-distracted by the upcoming UEFA Cup final against Tottenham, enough to send Huddersfield to the Second Division. In truth it was a small miracle they lasted that long: Town won six league games that season, the last of which came on November 27. They scored only six goals in 1972 and only really survived until the last weeks because of eight post-Christmas draws, which in the days of two points for a win was just enough to keep them in touch.
In the Guardian, Alan Dunn wrote:
Remembering the fresh, green day two years ago when Huddersfield Town entered the First Division the contrast last Saturday, when they effectively bade farewell and prepared to start all over again, was bleak and chill indeed. The weather added its own cold touch, a harsh wind and occasional sharp rain helping to keep the crowd at Leeds Road down to 11,677, in itself an indication of the problems that pursue a struggling club: falling gates chasing falling performances in the familiar, maddening spiral.
The other team relegated that season were Nottingham Forest. Within a scarcely plausible seven years, Forest were European champions, but that day in April began a 45-year spell away from the top flight for Huddersfield. Christopher Schindler’s penalty in May ended that exile, and now here they are, back in the Premier League and, dare we say it, one of the most exciting and interesting teams to make it up from the Championship in some years. David Wagner’s, erm, ‘outgoing’ personality can spill into wackiness and could get quite old quite soon, but this is a team with plenty to say, who might have found that rarest of things in today’s transfer market, a bargain gem in Steve Mounié. This is a team both absolutely delighted to be here, but also well-prepared to stay.
And then there’s Newcastle. Rafa Benitez’s side finished five places and 13 points above Huddersfield last season, and had over a month head-start on them, sealing promotion on April 23. On that day, Benitez said: “Now is the time to enjoy what we have done. But then I must make sure we do the right things. We have to prepare everything to be strong enough for the Premier League.”
And yet they have not prepared. At least not properly. Most of the side you will see today will have been there last season, a Championship squad asked to do a Premier League job. They have a manager who has engineered a position of power that means he can and might well walk at any moment if he thinks things aren’t progressing to his liking, which they clearly aren’t at the moment. The grumbles have already started. Last weekend’s defeat to Tottenham, after Jonjo Shelvey’s latest bout of duncery, was forgivable. A loss to a team they should be streets ahead of this afternoon, less so.
Kick-off: 13.30 BST.
Nick will be here shortly. Newcastle travel to West Yorkshire on the back of an opening defeat to Spurs, and with Rafa Benítez unhappy with the club’s transfer business:
Rafael Benítez has indicated that Mike Ashley’s summer transfer market blueprint is now significantly less ambitious than it appeared when the two men last met in May.
“He knows what he told me and what I was thinking,” said Newcastle United’s manager, who has not spoken to the club’s owner since that rare get-together and finds himself forced to embrace a new-found minimalism when it comes to refurnishing his squad.
Indeed Benítez makes it plain he has been unable to sign the players he originally envisaged recruiting after the team sealed promotion from the Championship.
Instead about £35m has been invested in low-key acquisitions including Javier Manquillo, Jacob Murphy, Mikel Merino and, most recently, Joselu but Benítez will need to sell unwanted players before buying again.
“We have to manage a situation that’s not ideal,” Benítez said.
