Huddersfield Town vs Sunderland. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Huddersfield and Sunderland as Alex Pritchard and Amad Diallo scored in the second half to earn victory for the Black Cats.
Wednesday 2 November 2022 22:54, UK
Sunderland midfielder Alex Pritchard's first goal since February helped consign his old club Huddersfield to a 2-0 home defeat.
Ex-England Under-21 international Pritchard struck early in the second half and on-loan Manchester United winger Amad Diallo wrapped up matters in the sixth minute of stoppage time to leave Huddersfield anchored at the bottom of the Championship table.
Defeat also meant that the Terriers are now without a league win against the Black Cats in nine contests - a sequence stretching back to 1986.
The troubled Terriers had started with purpose as a fifth-minute Jack Rudoni shot on the turn from the edge of the box drifted just too high after Ben Jackson had pumped a free-kick forward.
Jackson's set-pieces continued to pose a threat to the visitors with an inswinging corner that was punched away by goalkeeper Anthony Patterson leading to a 20-yard David Kasumu opportunity that he fired wide.
Sunderland gradually found their stride and missed two good chances to open the scoring just before the first half's midway point.
First, Dennis Cirkin dragged a poor seven-yard attempt across the face of goal following Luke O'Nien's deep cross from the right.
Then, Leon Dajaku produced an almost carbon-copy miss after the ball fell to him in the same position when Corry Evans' bobbling shot was parried away by home keeper Lee Nicholls.
As torrential rain and a driving wind began to make conditions difficult on a miserable night in West Yorkshire, Patterson then did well to gather and hold on to a 15-yard Jackson drive.
On the stroke of half-time, Japan international Yuta Nakayama was stretchered off, making him a doubt for the World Cup after an accidental collision with team-mate Josh Ruffels.
Huddersfield went on to start the second half with intent as Nakayama's replacement Brahima Diarra stretched to stab wide a Rudoni delivery.
Nimble footwork by Rudoni then created space for a 20-yard strike that he flashed wide and a sidefooted Diarra attempt was saved by Patterson.
The hosts should have gone on to take the lead when Etienne Camara played Duane Holmes clear on goal but he delayed long enough for Patterson to smother his shot.
When Camara then fed Jordan Rhodes from the loose ball, he missed the target from seven yards.
Within a minute, the Wearsiders had countered and broken the deadlock when Patrick Roberts made inroads down the right and exchanged passes with Diallo before squaring for Pritchard to open up his body and guide a seven-yard shot into Nicholls' bottom-right corner.
Mark Fotheringham's men responded well but Holmes' free-kick was a good height for Patterson and Jackson curled wide from distance.
At the other end, Diallo bent a 15-yard effort narrowly off target, before Diarra again went close from the edge of the box and Jackson drove wide of the near post from a narrow angle.
Ruffels also steered wide from seven yards and substitute Will Boyle headed over a stoppage-time corner.
But Sunderland added a second goal moments later, taking advantage of a three-on-one counter-attack as Diallo played a one-two with Ellis Simms before firing in between Nicholls' legs from 10 yards.
Huddersfield's Mark Fotheringham: "I woke up this morning and found out Tom Lees had Covid and he's probably one of the best defenders in the league at the moment and a big reason why we have been keeping clean sheets, but the lads who came in did ever so well and Brodie Spencer was excellent. It was his debut and he's 18 but he performed like a man.
"On another day, Holmesy (Duane Holmes) would have scored the one-on-one. Instead, they scored on the counter-attack but we can see that we are looking more solid and aggressive and Sunderland did not cause us too many problems. The late goal was disappointing but it came when we were still pushing for an equaliser, so it was an unfortunate night and we are not performing like a team that is bottom of the league."
Sunderland's Tony Mowbray: "It's taken Amad a bit of time to make an impact, but he's not a young unknown. Man United bought him from Atalanta for a lot of money and he's with us to play football and experience the expectation of a big crowd. He's scored two goals now in just over a week and that's good for the team because I feel I have unearthed another starter now. He's gone past the stage where he's a young lad who needs blooding. I was also pleased for Alex Pritchard scoring a good goal, because it's difficult going to an old club and he was getting pelters from their supporters.
"Our performance levels have to be miles better and it was probably the poorest performance since I have been here. Huddersfield moved the ball around well and caused us problems and our performance was like the weather - not very good at all. But it's great to get three points in the bag knowing that we are miles better than we showed."
