Huddersfield Town vs Bristol City

Competition: EFL Championship Matchday 10

Date: 03/11/2020

Score: 1-2

Ground: John Smith Stadium

Three days on from their win in London, Town were back in their native Yorkshire against Bristol City. With Town making three changes to their starting line-up. Diakhaby making way for Campbell, Pritchard for Stearman and Duhaney for Pipa. Ultimately this meant that Town changed their formation from 433 to 343.
In the 11', former Terrier, Nakhi Wells shot from outside the box and floated his shot onto the bar. Then, Pipa made a darting run across to the edge of the box and had his shot saved by the Robins 'keeper. Chris Brunt's free-kick summed up the first 20 minutes, when his free-kick on the left-wing failed to even make it into the box as it was blocked by the first man!
Bristol City should have taken the lead in the 38', when Town allowed Zak Vyner to have a free header at the back post. Although it would be Town that took the lead, Fraizer Campbell won the ball back and played it out to Mbenza who ran down the wing before playing a beautifully whipped ball across the box to the oncoming Josh Koroma, who finished from close range, to score his second goal in two games.
Bristol City didn't really threaten the Town goal until the 77th minute, when Semenyo whipped a ball across the face of goal and Jay Dasilva finished from close range. A goal that replicated the Town goal. Town's day didn't get any better as former Town loanee, Jamie Paterson scored in the 83' minute after Semenyo hit the post from the edge of the box and Paterson rifled it into the roof of the net at the near post.
Town didn't really look on it from the 70' minute and looked very tired, with their best chance of a reply once going behind being through Fraizer Campbell, but unfortunately for Town, he spooned it over the bar.
Town's next game is matchday 11 in the EFL Championship on Saturday (07/11/2020) at home to Luton Town.

5 Conclusions from the Game

1. Josh Koroma is the man to replace Karlan Grant.

The loss of Karlan Grant was a big deal for Town, but I believe Josh Koroma is the man to replace him. Karlan Grant scored 7 penalties last season, meaning he only scored 12 in open play. Josh is currently on 3 goals, 10 games into the season and if you were to project his season total based on his scoring rate, he would indeed surpass Karlan Grant's total in open play.

2. We need to stop losing points from winning positions.

Town has now lost their last two home games after being 1-0 at half time. Something we were good at last season was standing firm when leading, but this season it has been a different matter. Town has lost 6 points from winning positions this season while also dropping a point in the last minute at Birmingham last week. If Town had stood firm, they would be second in the league at this point!

3. Town needed to make substitutions earlier.

It took till the 74' for Corberan to make a substitution today, Josh Koroma making way for Carel Eiting. This was three minutes before the first Bristol City goal. For me this was the killer change, Town should have taken off either Hogg or O'Brien, two players that looked very tired. Town then lost one of their outlets and I think this is what caused the defeat. With this being said, Town should have brought on fresh legs a lot earlier. For both of Bristol's goals, there were substitutes involved, highlighting the importance that substitutes have on the game and in my opinion, Town left it too late to make changes.

4. Town conceded an identical goal to the one they scored.

It was a great finish by Koroma for Town's goal, but you could argue that he could have been tracked better by the Bristol right back. Jay Dasilva was allowed to roam free into space at the back post after Town failed to mark his run and was allowed to score an easy tap in. You would have thought Town would not allow themselves to concede the same goal they scored.

5. Town are looking very inconsistent.

Three days ago, Town had just had one of their results of the season after destroying an in-form Millwall side. Although, Town have only won one of their mid-week games this season, losing the other two. I think Town need to rotate more when they are playing midweek fixtures. As Town showed they were able to make five changes at the weekend and still beat Millwall. This shows the system they are playing works with whoever is in the team, but they just need their players to be fully fit.

Town Team:

Starting 11: Ben Hamer, Pipa, Christopher Schindler, Richard Stearman, Naby Sarr, Harry Toffolo, Jonathon Hogg, Lewis O'Brien, Fraizer Campbell, Isaac Mbenza, Josh Koroma
Subs: Joel Pereira, Demeaco Duhaney, Jadon Brown, Carel Eiting, Romoney Crichlow, Matty Daly, Adama Diakhaby
Formation: 343