Here’s the match report from Stuart James. Thanks for reading.
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Nuno Espirito Santo speaks.
Bad performance, Huddersfield were the better team. Too many mistakes and we have to have a deep reflection on what we want. We rushed, we didn’t have possession. They pressed very well, this is the work we have to do. We were looking to find the draw, we didn’t do enough, it was not a good game, too many things, not only offensive but defensive. [Worst game at Wolves?] Probably, probably, probably. The expectation doesn’t mean anything to us. We don’t change, this is the way we work but we have to be better.
Philip Billing and Aaron Mooy speak.
First up, Billing
It’s important for the team, to get that confidence. A brilliant performance, we stuck it to them, we got in their faces. [On the goalline clearance] I needed to get there and I was there> I am happy I made it. We have been working all week and in the international break, and we showed how good we can be. We played some good football. I am sure we will get more points on the board.
Next, Mooy.
It’s nice to score, that’s two wins and a draw, it lifts the squad, a great day. Sometimes when you score, something changes and you get more confidence. When you go through a bad patch, it feels it will never end. Now have another good result, we must get as many as we can.
Full-time: Great win for Huddersfield, dreadful from Wolves
That’s seven points in three matches for Huddersfield, who climb to 14th. Wolves have taken one points from a possible 15. And the reasons for that were made explicit by that performance. Huddersfield, though, deserve all the credit for an excellent display, with two great goals from the excellent Aaron Mooy. Philip Billing was also very good.
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90+ 4 mins: Jota is fouled on the edge of the box. Free-kick chance for Wolves. Neves can maybe make amends for his earlier foibles but then clatters it to the stands in the style of an inebriated Owen Farrell.
90+3 mins: Another corner, and Huddersfield hold it in the corner. Mooy tries a snap shot for his hat-trick but that is cleared.
90 mins: There are three minutes to be added on, but the three points are heading to Huddersfield. A triple sub is made by David Wagner. Pritchard off for Mbenza, Billing off for Williams and Hogg goes off for Stankovic. They take their time over that.
89 mins: Traore gets to the byline, as he did for the video no-goal, and is clattered for his troubles. He has kept going since he came on. Can his colleagues say the same?
88 mins: Huddersfield still pushing on, with Smith and Hogg terrier-like and Mooy directing traffic. Mooy has shown Moutinho and Neves how to be a playmaker in the Premier League.
86 mins: Neves is booked for a rash foul on Pritchard. The wunderkind has been poor today, and was highly culpable in that second goal. And did not control midfield as was expected.
85 mins: One talking point is the Jimenez header that didn’t cross the line. It looked in, the tech said no, but how reliable is the tech? Certain managers, perhaps one who lives in the Lowry Hotel, might question it. Let’s see if Nuno does.
84 mins: Lössl gets lucky when Jota’s shot skids in, and there is relief as he claims it at the second time of asking.
82 mins: There was talk that Wolves were the best team to ever come up from the Championship from some quarters, but it has not been borne out. They have excellent players but seem to lack the alleycats required to achieve the lofty ambitions.
80 mins: If anything, a Huddersfield goal has looked more likely than a Wolves goal. A review of the goal suggests that Neves flinched at Mooy’s free-kick; Gibbs-White, to his left, did not look amused.
79 mins: Another Huddersfield chance as the ball spills to Mooy, and his shot rebounds to Mounie, whose shooting boots were left somewhere in the Calderdale Valley, presumably.
78 mins: Huddersfield fans sing “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You.” This has been one of their best ever Premier League days so far. And a tactical coup for David Wagner.
77 mins: Traore almost gets on the end of some uncharacteristic lax play from Huddersfield. They have excelled in clearing their lines today. Some good old-fashioned Yorkshire “get rid of it” values.
75 mins: Wolves sub: Helder Costa is replaced by Diogo Jota.
74 mins: There are suspicions over the wall and the goalkeeping but the credit has to go to the excellence of Mooy’s right peg. Huddersfield are on course for a fine, and deserved, win.
Goal! Wolves 0-2 Huddersfield (Mooy, 74)
A free-kick to Huddersfield on the left-hand side of the box, and Mooy pings it round the wall, with Patricio beaten.
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72 mins: A fine save from Patricio denies Pritchard after set-up play by Mooy and Billing. A warning for Wolves.
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69 mins: Gibbs-White springs to life with a lovely ball to Jimenez, whose shot is again misdirected. He’s playing on the right, further wide than normal, and it is as if he can’t make the angular adjustment.
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67 mins: Nuno is very angry and telling Traore to step it up. Time beginning to tick on the Wolves revival. Huddersfield clinging on, and looking to break the flow of the game with delays and niggles.
65 mins: Huddersfield far less assured on the ball. Harried and hurried. Kongolo goes down and Jimenez forges on. He finds space for a shot but he does something that is neither a shot nor a cross. Shades of Andros Townsend v Manchester United yesterday, but worse.
62 mins: Doherty surges on from full-back but his cut-back is misread by Jimenez and Traore. Wolves really knocking on the door.
61 mins: Wolves have a disputed free-kick, and Neves will take it. But he cannot get it over the wall. Then a corner is forced. Wolves stepping this right up but their corner is cleared by Mounie.
59 mins: The official stats say the ball was 1.8cm from being a goal from Jimenez’s header, which is close.
58 mins: Billing’s chip to Mounie found the striker in a good position, but he is again a little lax. At least he gives Billing chance to get a shot in, which whizzes wide.
57 mins: The VR replay of how close that ball came to crossing the line shows it was about the width of a match from being a goal. You actually do not get closer to that than a goal.
56 mins: Close for Wolves! Traore gets to the byline, his ball loops to the back post, Jimenez’s header rattles off the bar and looks to crossed the line but Billing’s acrobatics get the ball clear.
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54 mins: Traore has been busy since he came on, which is a good sign for Wolves. He’s a great player to watch when he sets off on one of his runs. The final ball, though, is often not the best.
52 mins: Huddersfield clear the ball after Jimenez’s weaving run comes to an end. Pritchard looked to be fouled by Bennett but the referee waves away any claims.
50 mins: More Huddersfield territory, but Costa escapes on the counter before being felled. A free-kick chance for Neves, but somehow Wolves manage to play themselbes offside. Aren’t they supposed to be well coached?
48 mins: Wolves need to step this up, then. And so far, have not looked much more efficient than before.
47 mins: Kári Tulinius emails: “keep hearing and reading that Wolves might challenge for European places this year, but every time I’ve seen them play this year they haven’t looked that special. Not the worst of the worst, but a team who’ll be lucky to reach 40 points. Mind you, 40 points is probably more than sufficient to stay up this year.”
46 mins: We are back underway. What difference will that make? Early on, Schindler goes down heavily; he has taken one to the ribs but will soldier on.
Nuno rolls the dice
Here comes a couple of much-needed changes for Wolves with two attacking substitutions. Morgan Gibbs-White on for Joao Moutinho, and Ivan Cavaleiro goes off for Adam Traore.
The word is that the El Superclásico is off in Buenos Aires, so this is the big game of the day.
Get your half-time reading.
Half-time
That was excellent from Huddersfield and atrocious from Wolves. It should be more than 1-0 to the visitors, which is the sole positive to take for those in old gold.
45+2 mins: One last corner for Huddersfield. Again, Mooy finds Mounie, and Doherty clears off the line. Wolves at panic stations but get it clear, just about.
45 mins: Three minutes added on in injury time. That’s enough time for some home fan rage against their players for giving the ball away.
44 mins: Mounie, whose confidence has been lifted by that headed chance, makes himself busy and forces a couple of mistakes. It does look, however, that Huddersfield want to hold what they have until half-time, but Mounie has a dig from long range. Patricio saves.
42 mins: Some heavy pressing forces Wolves back and then Moutinho gives the ball away to Mooy, who he had not noticed was on his tail. That’s been the tale of the half; sloppy from Wolves, energetic from Huddersfield.
41 mins: David Wagner is asking his team to push for more. This could be a signature win for Huddersfield.
39 mins: Poor kick from Patricio sets up another Huddersfield attack. Half-time cannot come too soon for Wolves, who are better in the second half. Twelve of their goals have come in the second half this season.
37 mins: Wolves, again, are having to weather a storm. Billing’s long thrown forces another corner. Mooy plays this one back in a training ground move. The ball comes out to Kongolo for another chance on goal but again Patricio is correctly placed.
35 mins: Huddersfield force another corner. They take their time over it and Mooy’s kick is excellent. Mounie charges in, and beats Neves to the ball. The header is on goal but straight at Rui Patricio.
33 mins: Gasps from the home fans as another attack breaks down. On the sideline, Nuno is barking orders. The ball comes to Neves, a rarity so far, and he is asked to shoot by the supporters. He doesn’t. Ryan Bennett does, and his shot lands somewhere in the Solihull area.
32 mins: Wolves never able to settle into their preferred passing style. That owes much to Huddersfield’s hard work. It looks like they may have to rely on individual skill to get back into this.
30 mins: Mooy is given time and space to play the ball out to Durm, who finds Billing. The resultant shot is poor. Huddersfield could do with another goal; they have been good for it.
29 mins: Boly goes off to come back on again.
28 mins: Boly is hurt and there is a lull in play. Time for Nuno to rejig? He looks exasperated.
26 mins: Vinagre make a strong run down the left and but cannot trouble Lossl. Better from Wolves, but it was a solo mission; not much cohesion going on.
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24 mins: Boly is the guilty party here as Huddersfield escape again. Hadergjonaj is then cleared out by Conor Coady. Great tackle, a throwback, in fact, and no foul. The home fans sing for the captain. That was a piece of decisiveness that Wolves have been lacking.
22 mins: Mounie, again, is a little slow in his movement when Pritchard’s incursion had offered him the opportunity to get into a goalscoring position.
20 mins: Matt Doherty not happy, either. The fans boo as Moutinho passes back to Coady; are people getting ahead of themselves here? Wolves are in the Premier League for the first time since 2012 and the fans want them to go hell for leather.
18 mins: Wolves attempt to put an attack together but Jonathan Hoggs stops that with some fierce tackling. Ivan Cavaleiro has a shot blocked, too. Great work from Wagner’s Terrier Mentalities.
17 mins: Tommy Smith is booked for a roughhouse tackle on Helder Costa. Rightly so, and there are no complaints, merely apologies.
16 mins: Nuno looks pensive on the sidelines, as well he might. And the home fans are not quite so raucous.
15 mins: At this point, and it probably won’t last, Huddersfield’s energy is by far more effective than Wolves’ careful style of play.
13 mins: Loose again from Wolves as Pritchard picks up the ball and runs forward. He chooses to shoot and has his shot blocked; that results in a corner.
12 mins: Huddersfield very much playing on the counter but dangerous and organised. They look far better than the reputation that precedes them.
10 mins: Kongolo makes a fine tackle to deny Ivan Cavaleiro’s run into the box. Few claims for a penalty from the home fans but best of luck with that. Jiminez quickly gets a shot in that blazes over.
9 mins: Wolves have been rather flat so far, and look a little shocked by that goal. However, the pattern of play from here is likely to be Wolves on the attack and Huddersfield digging in.
7 mins: It was Erik Durm who made the most of Doherty’s slackness, and cued up Mooy. Would imagine Martin O’Neill might have enjoyed that mistake.
Goal! Wolves 0-1 Huddersfield (Mooy, 6)
Wolves were slack on their right, the ball is slotted back and Aaron Mooy is cued up to drill home. Great goal from the Aussie, poor from Wolves. Matt Doherty especially guilty.
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4 mins: Quite a raucous atmosphere so far. Mounie offside now. He has had an, er, interesting start.
3 mins: Early run for Vinagre and he forces a corner. Moutinho takes. Bennett looked to have a clear header before Huddersfield scramble it behind for another corner. The second is cleared.
1 min: Huddersfield have gone with a back three. Their version of Dave Challinor/Rory Delap gets a chance to launch a throw-in that Steve Mounie seems reluctant to fight for.
And it's live!
Wolves get us underway after one last burst of Jeff Beck.
The players are heading to the field with fireworks aplenty. Someone overestimated their Bonfire Night purchases.
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Kevin Ryan emails in: “That photo of Molineux - it’s a bit patronising of Wolves to put two goals at either end. I know the Terriers have only scored six in twelve games, but come on...”
The players are warming up to the tunes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s Spread Your Love and Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song and the managers have been talking.
First, Nuno, starting on the theme of Ruben Vinagre.
We work with him every day. He played in the Euro Under-19s and is working well, we are totally comfortable with him. We try to improve game by game, Huddersfield is a good team.
And now David Wagner.
We would like to get more points, we would like to get them with good performances. The chances we created in the last game will always be there. We have to keep on going and hopefully be more clinical. We have to defensively strong too.
This is the clubs’ first meeting in the top flight since 1972 when Huddersfield had Frank Worthington and Trevor Cherry in their team and Wolves featured the likes of Derek Dougan and John Richards. Wolves won that game in April 1972 with a 1-0 win, and Huddersfield were relegated after finishing bottom. Wolves finished ninth. Steve Daley was the goalscorer and became a glint in the eye of Peter J Swales.
It’s just finished Bournemouth 1-2 Arsenal. Wolves can go within a point of Bournemouth with a win today.
Stuart James spoke to Wolves captain Conor Coady this week.
Team news from a local journalist and the official organ.
Ruben Vinagre makes his first league start for almost a year, replacing Jonny in the only change from the 1-1 draw at Arsenal. Leo Bonatini returns to the bench #wwfc pic.twitter.com/LWBFJWVg2i
— Tim Spiers (@tim_spiers_Star) November 25, 2018
📝Here's a full breakdown of #htafc's team news ahead of #WOLHUD.
— Huddersfield Town (@htafcdotcom) November 25, 2018
🔙Tommy Smith comes into the team for his second @premierleague appearance of the season.
📈Schindler becomes the first player to make 50 Premier League appearances for the Club.
➡️ https://t.co/y6sPjGdKvJ (AT) pic.twitter.com/xAAt7KoeT3
The teams
Wolverhampton: Rui Patricio, Bennett, Coady, Boly, Doherty, Neves, Joao Moutinho, Ruben Vinagre, Helder Costa, Jimenez, Ivan Cavaleiro.
Subs: Gibbs-White, Jota, John Ruddy, Saiss, Dendoncker, Leo Bonatini, Traore.
Huddersfield: Lossl, Smith, Schindler, Kongolo, Hadergjonaj, Mooy, Hogg, Billing, Durm, Pritchard, Mounie.
Subs: Kachunga, Hamer, Sobhi, Mbenza, Williams, Depoitre, Stankovic.
Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)
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Preamble
Though both teams are recent arrivals from the Championship, their horizons could hardly be much different. Wolves’ ambitions lie in qualifying for Europe one day soon, while Huddersfield’s scope does not stretch much further than clinging on to Premier League status.
That’s what the ownership of a Chinese conglomerate of industrialists and access to the contacts book of Jorge Mendes will bring you. Meanwhile, Heckmondwike’s Dean Hoyle made his money in greetings cards and his stewardship brings back memories of the innocent days of local benefactors ploughing cash into the club they loved as a boy. There was around £25m in difference in spending in the summer and that doesn’t count for the signing of Rui Patricio on a free by Wolves. Nuno Espírito Santo and David Wagner can compare notes on getting out of the Championship but there the similarities draw pretty thin.
On 16 points, Wolves are in 11th place and can go tenth above Leicester if they get the expected home win, and while Huddersfield went rock bottom after Fulham’s win on Saturday, they can actually go as high as 14th. That reflects the torpor at the bottom where seven teams have not reached ten points as yet. Wolves’ holding of Arsenal last time out ended a poor run of results that signalled the end of their honeymoon period. Was there an element of their being sunshine boys during the Indian summer of 2018? Breezing through the grind of the Championship would suggest not.
Huddersfield, who got four points from their last two matches, will be without Pet Shop Boy Chris Löwe and Mathias Jørgensen while Wolves have only lost Jonny, to invoke Hawkwind.
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