Huddersfield Town vs Bristol City. Sky Bet Championship.
The John Smith's StadiumAttendance17,797.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Huddersfield and Bristol City at the John Smith's Stadium as goals from Harry Toffolo and Danny Ward sealed third place for the Terriers - they face Luton in the play-offs.
Saturday 7 May 2022 17:08, UK
Huddersfield enjoyed the perfect preparation for their Championship play-off campaign with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Bristol City.
The Terriers, who moved up to third with victory, extended their unbeaten run to seven games thanks to two strikes before the interval.
Harry Toffolo opened the scoring after a smart solo run with Danny Ward doubling the hosts' lead.
The visiting Robins - in a purple patch themselves after scoring eight goals in their last two games - could not continue their run of five matches without defeat.
Despite making six changes to his line-up, Carlos Corberan's side started brightly and dictated the early stages.
However, it was free-scoring Bristol City - whose season tally of 62 goals is bettered only by the top six - that had the game's first effort on target.
Chris Martin lifted a precise delivery to strike partner Antoine Semenyo, but the latter's powerful strike from an acute angle was parried by Jamal Blackman.
City's threat was soon extinguished though, with Huddersfield taking a lead that their play warranted.
Defender Toffolo skipped smartly past two challenges before firing low into the corner beyond an onrushing Daniel Bentley, igniting the game into life after the half-hour mark.
Forward Martin nearly found an immediate response if not for Blackman's efforts, with the keeper impressing in his first league start since a January switch.
Huddersfield nearly doubled their advantage when an accurate Pipa cross was flicked on by Duane Holmes, only for Bentley to make a miraculous instinctive save.
However, the Robins' resolve was soon broken when a dangerous Holmes delivery was bundled home by Ward - his 14th league strike of the season.
Huddersfield's control was not hindered by the interval as they quickly returned to the ascendancy after the restart.
An influential Danel Sinani shrugged off the challenge of veteran defender Timm Klose before firing low to Bentley's left, but the keeper did well to save.
Klose had a golden opportunity to then halve City's arrears when the ball fell kindly at his feet in the area, but his strike whistled wide of the target.
Jonathan Hogg, Toffolo and Sinani were all withdrawn before the hour mark as Corberan switched his attention to their play-off endeavours.
But their absence for the final 30 minutes did not sway the hosts' dominance with Ward - also a goalscorer in the reverse fixture in December - thwarted by Bentley from a one-on-one situation.
Huddersfield dictated the latter stages to keep a 19th clean sheet of the season and will now host Luton in the first leg of their play-off semi final on Friday.
Semi-final first legs
Friday May 13, 7.45pm - Luton vs Huddersfield
Saturday May 14, 3pm - Sheff Utd vs N Forest
Semi-final second legs
Monday May 16, 7.45pm - Huddersfield vs Luton
Tuesday May 17, 7.45pm - N Forest vs Sheff Utd
Play-off final
Sunday, May 29 2022
Huddersfield's Carlos Corberan: "This team has been growing by every minute in every game situation. Our target today was to finish in the highest position with the highest points possible and fortunately we've done that. The team were excellent, and I wanted to see this improvement of the team because it can give us the confidence that we can dominate one game.
"The changes were to prepare every player and the team in the best way we can. I was prioritising the individuals more rather than the collective because I wanted to help every player be ready for an important moment."
Bristol City's Nigel Pearson: "They're as good as anybody in this league including the two that have gone up and they've got a great chance of progressing. When you have your chances against sides that you play who are better than you, you have to take them, and it didn't quite happen for us today. For our fans, it's been a frustrating year, it is for us as well. They've probably had a bit of an up and down season in terms of loving us, liking us or disliking us.
"We'll get better and the challenge for us now is to put together a campaign which gives us a chance of getting promoted ourselves. We need to aim high, there's no point setting the bar low. Players that come in will need a strong desire to achieve. We need to find that competitive edge that allows us to overachieve results wise. We need to strengthen our squad, and we will."
