Read Paul Wilson’s match report
Full time: Huddersfield 4-1 Bournemouth
That’s a big result for Huddersfield, and an even bigger performance. The way they played - with such intensity and attacking intent - gives them an obvious template for the rest of the season, certainly at home. They ran a good Bournemouth team off the pitch and deserved what was eventually an emphatic victory. Thanks for your company, bye.
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GOAL! Huddersfield 4-1 Bournemouth (Van La Parra 90+5 pen)
David Wagner wanted Mounie to take the penalty to complete his hat-trick, but van La Parra stepped up and scored confidently. What a day for Huddersfield!
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PENALTY TO HUDDERSFIELD
90+3 min Pritchard wriggles into the area and is fouled by Gosling.
90 min A corner rebounds towards Lewis Cook, whose stinging shot from the edge of the area is well blocked by Kongolo. There will be six minutes of added time.
88 min “Huddersfield remind me of Everton under Moyes,” says Ian Copestake. “Without this fire in the belly they are limited, but with it they can achieve midtable dominance.”
87 min Bournemouth have had a lot of the ball in the last 10 minutes. But although they have been bright and purposeful, there’s an increasing lack of conviction in their attacking. Huddersfield have done a very good job on them today.
85 min The BT Sport commentator Darren Fletcher tells us that Mooy has a “deep cut” on his knee. That will smart but it’s probably better than ligament damage.
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84 min Billings smacks a long-range shot miles over the bar. This game is over.
82 min Huddersfield’s home form will surely decide whether they stay up. All five remaining home games in the league are winnable: Swansea, Crystal Palace, Watford, Everton and Arsenal.
80 min “Afternoon Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “With Man City winning the league at a canter, all the last day drama will be at the bottom, with perhaps around six teams still in the relegation mix on the final day. I support none of the teams, but I’ve already got “as it stands” fever in mid February, goodness knows what it’ll be like come May.”
Hopefully like Romania’s Divizia C, Seria VIII in 1983-84, if only to see Jim White’s happy little face on Sky Sports News.
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78 min Bournemouth are going down with a bit of a whimper. They started this game superbly but haven’t been able to cope with Huddersfield’s intensity since they went 2-1 down.
76 min Philip Billing replaces the outstanding Aaron Mooy.
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74 min Mooy is being stretchered off, and has both hands over his face. That could be ligament damage. It’s a big worry for Huddersfield because he is their best attacking player.
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73 min Mooy is down after a 50/50 with Lewis Cook. It was a fair challenge, but he slipped and may have done something to his knee.
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72 min Bournemouth have struggled to cope with Huddersfield’s in-your-face approach. If it stays like this, Huddersfield will jump from 19th to 16th in the great game of Premier League snakes and ladders.
71 min Mousset is booked for throwing the ball away.
70 min Bournemouth make their final change: Adam Smith replaces Steve Cook.
68 min Huddersfield have another chance straight from the kick off. Pritchard’s deflected shot spins just past Mounie, who would have had an open goal to complete his hat-trick.
This was another very good goal. Mooy moved into the box from the left and played a crisp square pass towards Mounie, 15 yards from goal. He took the chance first-time, sweeping a low left-footed shot just inside the near post.
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GOAL! Huddersfield 3-1 Bournemouth (Mounie 66)
Mounie gets his second to put Huddersfield 3-1 up!
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65 min A substitition apiece. Bournemouth bring on Lys Mousset for Junior Stanislas; Huddersfield introduce the hulking Collin Quaner in place of Tom Ince.
64 min Another dangerous inswinging free-kick from Mooy is headed towards goal by Zanka and hits Steve Cook. Mooy’s delivery, particularly from the left, has been excellent.
63 min “Say what you like about the talent of an Eddie Howe but he is yet to pass the Jordan Ibe test,” says Ian Copestake. “Better managers (of Celtic) than he have failed before him.”
I bet he can spell his first name though x
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62 min Huddersfield have been very good today against a classy, in-form team. They fully deserve to be ahead.
61 min Ince misses a great chance to make it 3-1! Mooy, by the left corner of the box, coaxed another excellent inswinging cross into the six-yard area. Ince got between Daniels and Ake and header over on the stretch. He just wasn’t able to get over the ball and keep it down.
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58 min A Bournemouth change: Josh King replaces Jordon Ibe, which suggests a possible switch to 3-4-1-2 or maybe 4-4-2.
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56 min Francis is booked for a foul on van La Parra, who duped him on the left wing.
54 min Bournemouth are unable to relax in possession, such is Huddersfield’s constant nagging. Nag nag nag nag nag. Frasier scurries across the field to find Ibe, who wins a corner off Hadergjonaj. Nothing comes o fit.
52 min “Anyone who knows anything about wrestling knows that Hogan is notorious for always getting Beefcake a job anywhere he (Hogan) goes,” says Adam Timmins. “In fact, the term ‘Beefcake’ in the industry is a general term for someone who owes all their success to a more talented friend.”
And I thought people were paying me a compliment when they christened me Beefcake Bobby.
51 min Huddersfield make a change, with Terence Kongolo replacing the presumably injured Scott Malone.
50 min Wilson’s cutback is unwittingly stabbed towards his own goal by the stretching Zanka. Lossl gets down to make a comfortable save.
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49 min “You mention Eddie Howe as possibly the best pound for pound manager,” says Gareth Aherne. “I think Sean Dyche just pips him. What he has achieved at Burnley is astounding.”
I wouldn’t abuse you on a social-media platform for that opinion, certainly. He gets even less credit than Howe, mainly because of a sickening culture of voice prejudice.
48 min Ince turns smartly away from Fraser and finds Mooy, who makes ground before dragging a low left-footed shot wide of the far post from 20 yards.
47 min “Hey up Rob,” says Jon Sundance. “Situated approx a mile from the ground, busy at the stove making a Porcini Risotto and a Lentil & Sweet Potato Soup #culinarydelightsinthehudd. Whilst following your updates and cooking I have been listening to Nick Cave - ‘From Her To Eternity’, and now on with The Fall and ‘Dragnet’ #sundayservice. Dog sprawled out in front ont’ roaring fire. Keep ‘em coming and enjoy the second half! Cheers :)”
I can’t handle such joie de vivre.
46 min Peep peep! Huddersfield begin the second half. Pritchard hares straight for goal and belts a shot wide after 16 seconds. Begovic had it covered.
“If we are talking pound for pound managers,” says Ian Copestake, “surely Big Sam wins by a donut.”
Or a pint of wine.
Half-time chit-chat
“In your intro, you wrote: ‘Eddie Howe doesn’t get a quarter of the credit he deserves,’” says Shaun Wilkinson. “I agree, but my question to you is: why? Is it because Bournemouth are not newsworthy? Is it because he isn’t one of them there fancy foreign managers? Is it because he doesn’t seem to seek publicity himself? My own guess is it is a combination of those three things.”
Yep, I think it’s all of the above. He’s possibly the best pound-for-pound manager in the league.
“Hi Rob,” says Jill O’Donnell. “My choices for two most underappreciated players last season were Demarai Gray and Ryan Fraser. So pleased their efforts appear to have been rewarded this season.”
Gray is an interesting case. He has the talent to be a superstar but his decision-making needs to improve a fair bit. He’s only 21 so there’s loads of time.
Half time: Huddersfield 2-1 Bournemouth
Peep peep! That was a very entertaining half of football, with Huddersfield’s energy trumping Bournemouth’s passing - at least for the time being. See you in 10 minutes for the second half!
44 min Some neat interplay from Bournemouth. Eventually Stanislas tries to flick the ball through to Wilson, and Malone comes round to make a good interception.
42 min Pritchard thumps a long-range shot into the body of Lewis Cook. Huddersfield have been much the better side since going 2-1 ahead.
41 min It has started bucketing down in Huddersfield. It was dry five minutes ago; now it’s almost biblical.
40 min “There is a place for the odd concise entry (as in min. 20),” says Charles Antaki, “though Spanish-type MBM fans, for example, must pine for more, when their usual diet is along the lines of “minuto 17: Gol de Cristiano…..[long silence].. minuto 25: Ramos expulsado”.”
39 min This is a decent spell for Huddersfield, whose energy with and without the ball has been a feature of the first half.
34 min “Always nice to see a reference to Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake,” says Tim Travers, “a forgotten Hogan mate who was dropped as soon as someone better/easier to boss about came along.”
He’s not forgotten by me. Not now, not ever.
31 min It’s end-to-end-to-end-to-end stuff. Bournemouth win another corner after a good run from the tireless wing-back Fraser - and it almost leads to an equaliser. It was a brilliant training-ground routine, with Daniels fizzing the ball low into a zone about 10 yards from goal. A series of dummy runs made room for Steve Cook to come around the ball and clip a first-time shot just wide of the far post.
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29 min This is a cracking game. Given their recent form, Huddersfield’s spirit and attacking intent has been so impressive.
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28 min The goal came from a debatable free-kick, given for a barge by Lewis Cook on Hogg.
GOAL! Huddersfield 2-1 Bournemouth (Mounie 27)
Huddersfield are back in front! Mooy’s excellent inswinging free-kick from deep on the left dropped straight onto the head of Mounie, who got a run on Francis and planted an excellent downward header into the net.
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23 min Huddersfield keep the pressure on from the corner. Mooy sennds in a deep, dipping cross from the left that is headed straight at Begovic by Zanka, six yards from goal. I think he was put off by a teammate falling in front of him but it was still a decent chance.
23 min Huddersfield win a corner, their first of the match I think. Ince curls it in and Gosling heads clear. This entry won’t be winning any awards, will it.
20 min The Huddersfield crowd, if not the players, appeal for handball when Malone’s cross hits the sliding Cook. Replays show it wasn’t handball so much as ballball.
18 min Gosling is booked for pulling back Pritchard. This is a good, open game.
16 min There are some players whose heart rate seems to go down in the penalty area - Romario and Robert Pires come to mind. Either of them would have been happy to call that Stanislas goal their own.
Fraser, running down the right onto Ibe’s pass, curved a terrific first-time cross around the line of Huddersfield defenders to find Stanislas at the far post. He controlled the ball and then, with an almost ostentatious calmness, passed it gently into the net from 10 yards. That was such a classy finish.
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GOAL! Huddersfield 1-1 Bournemouth (Stanislas 13)
This is a lovely equaliser from Bournemouth.
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11 min There’s such a good atmosphere at the John Smith’s Stadium. There’s so much to admire about these two teams really.
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9 min That was a nicely worked goal from Huddersfield, though Simon Francis’s defending on the left wing was pretty poor.
The goal came out of nothing. Mounie retrieved a long ball down the left wing and skipped into the area away from Francis. As defenders came across he slipped the ball back to Pritchard, who wrapped his left foot around it and crashed an excellent first-time finish past Begovic.
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GOAL! Huddersfield 1-0 Bournemouth (Pritchard 7)
Alex Pritchard gives Huddersfield the lead!
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6 min There’s a bit of a strut about Bournemouth when they have possession, as you’d expect given their recent form.
5 min Schindler towers above Ibe to win a header and lands on the turf like a wrestler who’s been bodyslammed by Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake. There’s a break in play while he receives treatment; he’s fine.
2 min Eddie Howe talked about a fast start and Bournemouth have made one. They win a couple of corners down the left, the second of which is punched away awkwardly by Lossl.
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1 min Peep peep! Bournemouth kick off from right to left. In an unrelated development, let’s hear from Roy Hodgson.
Meanwhile, this is outstanding from Roy Hodgson pic.twitter.com/ngezmvuqNg
— Daniel Harris (@DanielHarris) February 11, 2018
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Eddie Howe speaks! “Huddersfield are a good team at home. We have to start well - I think that will be crucial, keeping the crowd out of the game. With the team we’ve got today we can play various systems. We’ve been on a good run in front of goal and hopefully that shows against today.”
The teams
Huddersfield Town (4-2-3-1) Lossl; Hadergjonaj, Zanka, Schindler, Malone; Pritchard, Hogg; van La Parra, Mooy, Ince; Mounie.
Substitutes: Coleman, Kongolo, Hefele, Billing, Sabiri, Williams, Quaner.
AFC Bournemouth (3-4-2-1) Begovic; Francis, S Cook, Ake; Fraser, L Cook, Gosling, Daniels; Ibe, Stanislas; Wilson.
Substitutes: Boruc, Smith, Simpson, Surman, Arter, King, Mousset.
Referee Michael Oliver.
Preamble
Hello there. Everything is abbreviated these days; totes ridic innit FFS FML. Even second-season syndrome, where promoted teams find it almost impossible to replicate impressive first year in the top flight, has been shortened. Huddersfield are the latest club to suffer from the catchily entitled modern phenomenon that is second-half-of-the-first-season syndrome.
It’s often the case that promoted teams arrive bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to the Premier League, with an intrepid atitude and a surfeit of charm. They have a fine start, usually with at least one famous win over a Big Boy, before being slowly, inexorably, dragged into the relentless misery of a relegation battle.
Huddersfield were 11th at the turn of the year but have lost all five league games since to drop to 19th. Seven of their next eight league matches are against relegation rivals - if you count today’s visitors Bournemouth as such - so there is plenty of scope to sort things out. Or for it to get worse, but we like to accentuate the positive round these parts. Oh yeah.
Bournemouth have almost been the antonym of Huddersfield this season. They spent much of the first half in the relegation places and were 18th at Christmas. Since then they have gone seven games without defeat, including outstanding wins over Arsenal and Chelsea, and have legitimate hope of consecutive top-half finishes. Eddie Howe doesn’t get a quarter of the credit he deserves.
It’s quite possible Bournemouth will finish as high as seventh, the best of the rest. Huddersfield would be very, very, very happy just to finish seventeenth.
Kick off is at midday.
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