Hull City vs Huddersfield Town. Sky Bet Championship.
MKM StadiumAttendance20,630.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Hull City and Huddersfield Town at the MKM Stadium on Saturday | Liam Delap scores late winner for Tigers to down Terriers.
Saturday 11 November 2023 18:15, UK
Liam Delap's stoppage-time goal consigned struggling Huddersfield to 1-0 Sky Bet Championship defeat at Hull.
The visitors were resolute against the possession-driven Tigers but were finally outsmarted when Delap thrashed home from a central position.
Hull bossed the game in terms of possession, but they lacked a necessary flash of quality to break down a well-constructed Town back five in regulation time.
But Delap, who had earlier struck the crossbar, remain unbowed and scored the goal his endeavours warranted two minutes into second-half stoppage-time.
Huddersfield have won just once in 10 and remain one place above the relegation zone.
Manager Darren Moore has clearly worked hard to address the defensive issues that led to a concession of eight goals from their last two away matches.
But they brought nothing to the game from an offensive perspective and deserved to leave East Yorkshire empty-handed.
No better was Hull's dominance illustrated than in the first half, in which they had 81 per cent of possession but rarely gave goalkeeper Lee Nicholls any cause for concern.
A flurry of early corners came to nothing, while Huddersfield's stout backline remained tough and disciplined when Hull probed in central areas.
Perhaps sensing an opportunity, Town began to creep out of their shells.
That was evidenced in the 29th minute when Sorba Thomas cut in from the left before popping a sharp, low hit just wide of the right post.
Jaden Philogene - Hull's most influential creator - came even closer from a similar position a few minutes later.
Philogene let rip from the left channel, but Nicholls did well to parry the ball for a corner at his near post.
With the MKM Stadium having awoken from its slumber, Hull finished the first half relatively strongly.
Jean Michael Seri flashed one just wide from distance, while Ozan Tufan was denied by Nicholls from 20 yards.
With supporters still returning to their seats after the break, Hull really ought to have taken a rapid second-half lead.
Scott Twine's free-kick into the box was not dealt with, but Delap naively screwed the ricocheting football wide from an inviting position.
Hull might have been expected to kick on, but the second half largely mirrored that of the first; possession without purpose against belligerent opponents.
Indeed, it was not until the 70th minute that Nicholls was again called into action when he smartly tipped over Ozan Tufan's header after good work from Tyler Morton.
Tufan then turned provider when he stood up a lovely cross from the right towards the back of the six-yard box.
Delap's header shivered the goal frame, with defender Matty Pearson alert to the rebound with a brave clearance.
But the Manchester City loanee continued to test Huddersfield's mettle and scored the winner with a low hit that struck the inside of the right-hand post and then the back of the net.
Hull's Liam Rosenior:
"I'm really proud because sometimes teams can lose faith in what they are doing. This method of (possession-based) play ties the opposition up - I think we had about 80 per cent of the ball - and, normally, chances to come towards the end of the game. I think from minute one to minute 100 we showed our quality and were dominant all game. My team, with his group of players, have not lost two games in a row. They are learning as they go which is exciting for me. There wasn't anyone in the stadium who would argue we didn't deserve three points.
"Liam got his just rewards - he probably could have scored three or four. I'm very proud of the group, but I just want to see more goals. The intent is there - I think everyone can see that. But when you have that much control you can be a little bit more risky and make positive changes. Fair play to Darren. His side were so resilient and difficult to break down and, in time, he will get the results the club needs. For us to break them down in the manner that we did gives us a lot of confidence."
Huddersfield's Darren Moore:
"There's always an emotional element to a result and I can understand that. You have to strike the balance right and we are working towards that. But as a group we were working extremely hard to correct those wrongs to make them right. We created two or three half-opportunities on counter-attacks. When the chances came our way, could we have used the ball more effectively and get bodies up the pitch? I thought we did that really well; it was just that the opportunities that we created just didn't come our way.
"It's a tough one to swallow in terms of going that long into the game (without conceding). In terms of the performance, it was another team performance in the right direction. As a group we are looking at the positives - you have to look at the overall performance. We have to accept what's happened and move forward. The gameplan was to nullify them in spaces we know they can hit you on the break - I thought we did that on the balance of the game. I thought apart from a couple of incidents, we limited to them to long-range efforts."
