Leeds United 1 Huddersfield Town 4: David Wagner full of praise for Nahki Wells after Elland Road blitz

David Wagner saluted Nahki Wells' game for the ages after he watched his Huddersfield side win 4-1 at Leeds.
Leeds boss Steve Evans.  Picture Tony JohnsonLeeds boss Steve Evans.  Picture Tony Johnson
Leeds boss Steve Evans. Picture Tony Johnson

The Bermudan got off on the wrong note when his penalty was saved by Marco Silvestri, but ran Leeds ragged from there on in and ended the afternoon with the crowning fourth goal.

Prior to that he had laid on a wonderful assist for Karim Matmour and ran Leeds centre-halves Sol Bamba and Giuseppe Bellusci off their feet.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With his and Matmour’s goals added to by Mark Hudson and Harry Bunn, it was a day to remember for Town and their travelling fans, and, according to Wagner, Wells will look back on it in years to come.

“Everybody who works with him knows that this is not the first time he missed a chance or chances and stayed focussed in the game,” Wagner said.

“He created the goal of Matmour, which was high class, and what he did in this moment, he will speak about after his career. He missed a penalty, got a great assist.

“This was a fantastic day. A brilliant three points, a massive three points, but I think we have played better games.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We were very clinical. We always moan that we are not clinical enough but the story of this game was something special. We missed the penalty, conceded a goal, but in the second half we were too quick and closed them down well.”

It was an even sweeter afternoon for Wagner given his first game at Huddersfield - albeit not in direct charge - ended in a 3-0 defeat at home by Leeds.

“We have been able to make a lot of people in Huddersfield very happy,” he said.

“We knew this was a massive game for all the Huddersfield supporters. We knew we had to repair and correct the 3-0.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Leeds boss Steve Evans was left bemoaning some of his side’s defending in the wake of Stuart Dallas’ opener, while also defending his position.

Three straight wins had given Evans some much needed credit in the bank after the dreadful 4-0 defeat at Brighton, after which he was banned from speaking by owner Massimo Cellino.

United are never longer than 90 minutes from a crisis and this game was played against the backdrop of more protests about Cellino’s ownership, with the ‘Massimo Time To Go’ group hiring a cinema screen on which to play a film calling for his exit.

Evans cited this as a different kind of four-goal defeat and batted off questions about pressure, saying he had done what was asked of him.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Huddersfield wanted it more than us in certain areas,” he said.

“When I joined the job was to keep Leeds in the Championship and that gets forgotten. We have become a mid-table side.

“It is easy to talk and harder to deliver, but I have a track record that I deliver. Days like today teach you more than the days when you beat Bolton and Cardiff.”