Analysis: David Wagner enjoys happy return to dugout as Huddersfield Town keep heat on Championship leaders

BACK on the touchline and back in the winning groove.
Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner with match winner Huddersfield Town's Tommy SmithHuddersfield Town manager David Wagner with match winner Huddersfield Town's Tommy Smith
Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner with match winner Huddersfield Town's Tommy Smith

Tommy Smith’s ability to find the net from full-back at vital moments ensured David Wagner’s return to the dugout after serving a two-game ban ended with a precious three points for Huddersfield Town.

Three weeks on from his dramatic 94th-minute winner at Rotherham United, Smith delivered once again with a fine drilled finish through a scrum of players to settle a contest in which Huddersfield were far from at their fluent best but still got the job done to end a two-game losing run. That is a fine trait to have amid a run-in that may well bring top-flight football back to the West Yorkshire town for the first time in 45 years.

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Smith’s fourth goal of the campaign was enough to condemn Steve Bruce to defeat on his return to the club he managed for 17 months around the turn of the millennium and keep the Terriers snapping at the heels of Brighton & Hove Albion in the race for the top two.

Huddersfield Town's Tommy Smith (centre) is congratulated by team-mates after his winning goal against Villa. (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)Huddersfield Town's Tommy Smith (centre) is congratulated by team-mates after his winning goal against Villa. (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)
Huddersfield Town's Tommy Smith (centre) is congratulated by team-mates after his winning goal against Villa. (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)

Six points separate Wagner’s men from the Seagulls – 2-0 victors at Rotherham United – but the Yorkshire club has a game in hand. If that advantage is to be overhauled then Town will have to improve on last night’s showing against a Villa side who had the better of the few chances created.

There was plenty of endeavour from Wagner’s men, Michael Hefele putting in a tireless shift at the back to keep the lively Jonathan Kodija in check.

Collin Quaner also put in the hard yards as the lone frontman despite having to feed on scraps as Villa belied their lowly position in the Championship table.

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The Midlands giants, of course, are not a typical mid-table side. More than £70m has been spent on signings since the club’s relegation last May, an outlay that has brought precious little return in their first year at this level in almost three decades. Bruce, handed the task of reviving Villa’s fortunes in October, has the proud boast of having led Town to their highest league standing since being relegated in 1972 but that is certain to be eclipsed this time around by Wagner. For much of last night’s encounter, however, the former Hull City manager got his tactics spot on with Hefele and Christopher Schindler closed down the moment they retreated deep to collect the ball from goalkeeper Joel Coleman.

Huddersfield Town's Aaron Mooy fouls Aston Villa's Henri Lansbury (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)Huddersfield Town's Aaron Mooy fouls Aston Villa's Henri Lansbury (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)
Huddersfield Town's Aaron Mooy fouls Aston Villa's Henri Lansbury (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)

The upshot was Huddersfield being unable to play their usual high-tempo passing game and the visitors enjoying the better of proceedings. This was most evident in the centre of midfield, where Aaron Mooy and Jonathan Hogg, a pivotal cog in the footballing machine powering Town’s unexpected push for the Premier League, were outshone by Mile Jedinak and Henri Lansbury.

Lansbury was desperately unfortunate not to break the deadlock nine minutes before the break, his ferocious volley striking the post with the helpless Coleman left grasping at thin air as the ball fizzed past him.

Coleman had earlier pulled off a flying save to deny James Bree but if the full-back was unfortunate in that instance then the same cannot be said about fellow Barnsley old boy Conor Hourihane when presented with the best chance of the first half.

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A delightful reverse pass from Kodija opened up the Terriers defence to such an extent that Hourihane had just Coleman to beat from just eight yards out but blazed over.

Huddersfield Town's Tommy Smith (centre) is congratulated by team-mates after his winning goal against Villa. (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)Huddersfield Town's Tommy Smith (centre) is congratulated by team-mates after his winning goal against Villa. (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)
Huddersfield Town's Tommy Smith (centre) is congratulated by team-mates after his winning goal against Villa. (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)

The best Huddersfield could muster in those opening 45 minutes had been a shot by Elias Kachunga that Sam Johnstone saved at point-blank range.

Town didn’t offer much more immediately after the restart, Villa’s pressing game forcing the home defence into a long ball game that made little impression on the well marshalled backline.

That was when Nahki Wells was introduced to pep up the Terriers. His first involvement was to collect a pass midway inside the Villa half and spread the play to the right flank, a move that moments later led to Huddersfield being awarded a corner.

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Mooy, so quiet up to that point, caught the visitors on the hop by rolling a pass to the unmarked Smith. He took a touch, evaded a defender, and then steadied himself before drilling a shot that beat a scrum of players and Johnstone to break the deadlock.

Huddersfield Town's Aaron Mooy fouls Aston Villa's Henri Lansbury (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)Huddersfield Town's Aaron Mooy fouls Aston Villa's Henri Lansbury (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)
Huddersfield Town's Aaron Mooy fouls Aston Villa's Henri Lansbury (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire)

Villa could find no way back and it was Town who looked the most likely to add a second as Wells fired narrowly over from 25 yards. The final whistle was greeted with relief by the 20,584 crowd, as Huddersfield moved to within six points of the record tally achieved under Bruce in the 1999-2000 campaign that ended with an eighth-place finish.

Huddersfield Town: Coleman; Smith, Hefele, Schindler, Lowe; Mooy, Hogg; Kachunga, Brown (Wells 68), Van la Parra (Cranie 83); Quaner (Billing 88). Unused substitutes: Coddington, Payne, Lolley, Stankovic.

Aston Villa: Johnstone; Bree, Chester, Baker, Taylor (Blackett-Taylor 87); Jedinak; Lansbury, Hourihane, Adomah, Amavi (Davis 82); Kodja. Unused substitutes: Bunn, Richards, Elphick, Gardner, O’Hare.

Referee: D Bond (Lancashire).