Huddersfield Town 1 Manchester United 1 - Isaac Mbenza strike earns Town a richly-deserved point on Dean Hoyle's home farewell as chairman

AN UPLIFTING performance from Huddersfield Town saw the hosts end a eight-match winning streak with a noteworthy performance against Manchester United - as the Terriers crowned chairman Dean Hoyle's farewell as chairman in fitting fashion.
Huddersfield Town head coach Jan SiewertHuddersfield Town head coach Jan Siewert
Huddersfield Town head coach Jan Siewert

A first goal for the club from Isaac Mbenza on the hour mark cancelled out Scott McTominay's early opener, with the midfielder being the beneficary of an error from Jonas Lossl.

Lossl played his part in the leveller to redeem himself by setting up Mbenza with a quickly-taken clearance.

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Mbenza's strike helped Town avoid the ignominy of being the first top-flight side in history to register a single-digit figure of league goals on home soil in a season.

Town also avoided equalling a record 29th Premier League defeat of the season.

A chorus of 'There's Only One Dean Hoyle' rang out among Town followers early on, with the outgoing chairman afforded plenty of handshakes from main stand patrons ahead of the kick-off.

Sadly, the initial action on the pitch was largely in keeping with the dismal events of a thoroughly forgettable 2018-19 campaign with Town conceding an early goal for the third successive game.

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Eight minutes were on the clock when McTominay put United ahead, after being the beneficiary of some lame goalkeeping from Jonas Lossl.

After a low-key opening 25 minutes which saw the visitors hog possession, Town, to their credit, did improve by a fair few notches and provided some welcome encouragement for the home supporters.

A mistake from Juan Mata enabled Juninho Bacuna to power forward, with a low shot trickling just wide, while at the other end, Mata was close after good work by Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba.

In the build-up to the break, Town went close twice with Isaac Mbenza firing wide from close range under pressure from Victor Lindelof following Alex Pritchard's dangerous low cross and the legs of David de Gea then thwarting Karlan Grant after he was sent clear.

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United then went close to affording themselves a two-goal buffer when Pogba's looping header struck the woodwork in an entertaining end-to-end spell of action ahead of the interval.

Town again showed intent on the restart with Grant firing over after a counter-attack instigated by the impressive Bacuna.

The equaliser that the hosts deserved then arrived on the hour after a brilliant piece of ingenuity and quick-thinking from Lossl saw him launch the ball upfield in the direction of Mbenza with United caught with numbers in the Town half.

The winger hared away after Luke Shaw failed to clear and coolly slotted the ball underneath the legs of De Gea for a rare moment of joy in a miserable season for Town.

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Play was delayed while a replacement corner flag was found after Mbenza's histrionics, much to the mirth of home fans, who were starting to enjoy themselves at least.

Poor misses from Phil Jones and Rashford soon added to humour among the Town faithful in the spring sunshine.

Lossl then made an unconvincing parry to turn away Rashford's long-ranger, while Town relied on counter-attacking tactics at the other end.

An eventful finale saw Lossl deny substitute Tahith Chong and Pogba strike the woodwork, while De Gea again showed his prowess to thwart Grant with a key save with his legs.

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Huddersfield Town: Lossl; Durm (Smith 45), Schindler, Kongolo, Lowe; Hogg, Bacuna; Mbenza (Diakhaby 90), Mooy, Pritchard; K Grant. Substitutes unused: Coleman, Kachunga, Mounie, Stankovic, Daly.

Manchester United: De Gea; Young, Lindelof (Dalot 83), Jones, Shaw; McTominay, Matic (Herrara 53), Pogba; Mata, Sanchez (Chong 54), Rashford. Substitutes unused: L Grant, Smalling, Fred, Pereira.

Referee: L Mason (Lancashire).