Huddersfield Town 1 Watford 2 - Terriers close on unwanted record with defeat to FA Cup finalists
Huddersfield Town slumped to a 14th loss of the season in front of their own fans, as a double from Gerard Deulofeu ensured Watford became the latest to profit from a run that shows no signs of ending any time soon.
Once again, the Terriers could not be faulted for effort. They even created several promising openings against the FA Cup finalists and managed to net the final goal of the afternoon.
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Hide AdBut, as has been the case for the vast majority of this sorry season, Huddersfield came up short when it really mattered.
Karlan Grant did net a late consolation in stoppage time but it was far too little, too late from Jan Siewert’s side, who have just one more opportunity to score the two goals required to avoid becoming the lowest scorers on home soil - joint or otherwise - in top flight history.
The current record stands at ten, set by Manchester City in 2006-07. Grant's late strike, making him Town's top scorer on four goals, means the Yorkshire club has nine with just the visit of Manchester United to come.
The opening goal came early. Just five minutes had elapsed when Jonathan Hogg’s attempted pass was cut out.
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Hide AdWill Hughes then sent Abdoulaye Doucoure through only for Terence Kongolo to block his path with a well-timed tackle.
Unfortunately for Town’s record signing, the ball fell to Gerard Deulofeu, who after taking a moment to steady himself curled the ball in off Jonas Lossl’s post.
The same two Hornets were involved for the second goal of the afternoon. First, Doucoure rounded off a neat passing move with a shot that Lossl did well to block only for Deulofeu to swoop on the rebound.
Huddersfield did have chances. Aaron Mooy curled a free-kick just wide, while Ben Foster beat away a 20-yard effort from Isaac Mbenza.
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Hide AdTown continued to press after the restart, as Steve Mounie’s overhead kick floated just over the crossbar before the Benin striker then wasted a great chance to send teenage debutant Matty Daly clear.
Another promising opening went begging just after the hour when Juninho Bacuna released Tommy Smith with an incisive pass.
He, though, looked up and no-one was there, meaning his cross could only find Aaron Mooy towards the back of the penalty area.
The Australian’s scuffed shot was easily saved by Foster and the game was over as a contest once Deulofeu had bagged his second.
Grant did net from close range after latching on to Chris Lowe's header but it was too little, too late for the Terriers.