Huddersfield Town 0 Sheffield Wednesday 1: Fernando Forestieri rediscovers zest to seal derby triumph

The Owls striker scored a decisive second-half goal at Huddersfield for the second season running, netting from the spot after Rajiv Van La Parra was penalised for handball, ending Town’s 100 per cent home record.

It represented a missed opportunity for David Wagner’s side, who could have reclaimed top spot and moved two points clear at the Championship summit with a victory.

But after derby wins over Rotherham United, Barnsley and Leeds United already this term, Huddersfield were denied another by a professional Wednesday side, whose win moved them up to seventh place in front of record league crowd of 22,368 at the John Smith’s Stadium.

While the Owls produced an accomplished team performance, the main plaudits were reserved for Forestieri, who had been challenged – along with fellow striker Gary Hooper – by Carvalhal to change his mental approach after a subdued start to a season.

Back in August, Forestieri was in the spotlight after refusing to travel to the game at Norwich City after claiming his “mind was not in the right place” after being linked with moves elsewhere.

Forestieri subsequently reaffirmed his commitment to the Owls, but had failed to reach the heights of the outstanding form he displayed last season – until yesterday’s keynote performance.

On Forestieri, who hit the post with a delightful individual effort prior to his penalty, Carvalhal said: “Fernando was the man-of-the-match. People think the man-of-the-match is someone who plays alone and likes to do things. But the man of the match is a player who is inside the team and after, he upgrades the team.

“The staff and all their colleagues like them (Forestieri and Hooper) and the fans do. Sometimes, attackers work hard for the team, but need a click – one good game, or one goal can do this for this kind of player.

“Last season, Gary had a slow start, but when he started scoring goals and playing well, he did absolutely fantastic. For Fernando, it was the same and I think that the click they needed was here. I believe their future can be bright and we need them as they can upgrade our team.”

On his side becoming the first team to take three points away from Huddersfield this season, with Town chasing a sixth successive home league win heading into the game, Carvalhal added: “They are a very good side who play good football and are in their rightful position and are a threat to all opponents. It was a big challenge to us.

“We knew the dynamic of Huddersfield and tried to block their game. We have plenty of chances and discovered the way to win. In my opinion, we deserved to win.

“We started defending in the attack and Gary and Fernando did a fantastic job. This is a real team and those two ran a lot and put the team first. This is the way and what we want.”

Town head coach David Wagner said that he had no complaints with his side’s derby loss as the German suffered a third successive defeat at the hands of Carvalhal’s Owls.

Wagner, who also had no arguments with the decision to award the visitors a decisive penalty midway through the second half, said that Town must now focus must now on bouncing back immediately with victory at Preston on Wednesday.

On the previous two occasions in which Town had lost this season, they have quickly followed up with a win in the next game, with that being the challenge once again.

Wagner said: “To be fair, I think the performance was good, but not outstanding. The effort, fight and working attitude was good, so I have no complaints with the performance.

“Of course, we are disappointed with the result. But if two good, strong sides play against each other and it is even and tight, sometimes one situation decides the game and unfortunately, this was on Sheffield Wednesday’s side.

“I don’t think they were slightly better. I think they were more lucky and in my opinion, the game was quite even.

“We did a lot of things right and expected to play against an opponent who would counter-attack and they did.

“Maybe we have to create more dangerous situations when we are on the goalline (byline). We were there eight, nine or 10 times, but we were not clinical enough and we did not find our players in the centre.

“It was a bit unlucky for us But I can accept the result as we tried everything.

“We have shown in the past that we have been able to bounce back and I can accept this defeat because the performance was good. We must make sure we get the result on Wednesday and perform.”

Match report: Page 3