Plymouth Argyle vs Huddersfield Town. Sky Bet Championship.
Home ParkAttendance16,446.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Plymouth and Huddersfield at Home Park as goals from Morgan Whittaker, Bali Mumba and Ryan Hardie earned Steven Schumacher's Argyle a winning start to life back in the second tier
Saturday 5 August 2023 18:55, UK
Two solo goals in as many minutes ensured Plymouth started life in the Championship with a 3-1 home win over Neil Warnock's Huddersfield.
Attacking midfielder Bali Mumba swept in from the left with the wind at his back to cut through the Terriers' defence before beating visiting 'keeper Lee Nicholls with a well-placed low shot on 74 minutes.
Two minutes later it was left to Argyle's Scottish striker Ryan Hardie to go solo and finish crisply past Nicholls for his 50th goal in green.
Those goals turned the game on its head.
Argyle's two big summer signings Mumba and Morgan Whittaker had combined to give Argyle a sixth-minute lead.
Quick thinking by Hardie enabled Mumba - returning to Plymouth from Norwich permanently for £1m after helping Argyle win League One last season while on loan - to drive into the Huddersfield penalty area.
His cross was headed by Rarmani Edmonds-Green and then skywards by Terriers skipper Michal Helik. The ball fell to Whittaker - the former Swansea loanee similarly returning on a permanent £1m deal - who beat Nicholls at the far post.
Nicholls had to be at his best six minutes later as Callum Wright's clever footwork put Hardie in on goal down the right and he slipped the ball to Whittaker, whose first-time arrowed shot was well saved by the diving Nicholls at the foot of the upright.
Huddersfield's best chance of the half fell to Josh Koroma midway through the first half and with only new home 'keeper Conor Hazard to beat, the Terriers forward swept the ball down the outside of the goal.
The Greens - with playmakers Adam Randell and Whittaker prominent - continued to press for a second goal but Huddersfield continued to grow into the game and levelled in the last minute of first-half stoppage time.
Argyle failed to clear their lines following a corner and Brahima Diarra let fly with a shot from the edge of the box that beat former Celtic 'keeper Hazard - another summer import - and smashed off the foot of the post. Helik was first to react and fired home into an unguarded net.
There was a strong wind gusting around Home Park and Diarra used the gale to good effect to almost beat Hazard with a wind-assisted strike from the right, which the 'keeper managed to fingertip around the far post at full stretch.
The Irish 'keeper had a lucky let-off in the 58th minute when he managed to recover after being robbed by Diarra.
Mumba found himself in space on the edge of the box on 66 minutes but got under the shot and with the wind still swirling the ball flew over the bar.
Minutes later he scored a brilliant individual goal, soon emulated by Hardie to wrap up the points.
Plymouth's Steven Schumacher:
"All through pre-season we spoke about how we need to be clinical. That's going to make such a difference this season. I really enjoyed the game, two teams that went at it right from the very start. It was intense. There was always someone right up against our players. We showed bits of quality when we needed and that swung it in our favour. The early goal settled everyone's nerves a bit I think. It wasn't a typical goal that we would score.
"Twenty minutes in Huddersfield got themselves back into the game and then got their goal just before half-time. We were disappointed to concede the way we did, with the ball bouncing off the post to one of their players. But then Bali and Ryan Hardie produced two bits of quality. If we get those forward players the ball, then they will produce."
Huddersfield's Neil Warnock:
"You have got to take your chances. We had three great chances. It's fine margins really. It didn't surprise me that the two wide lads won it for them because we made mistakes against them. I thought we had nullified them but we didn't. They win the games with their goals. When you look at goals throughout the season there will always be an aspect of disappointment.
"You can talk all day but it's one game gone and we got beat. It's a game we should have won. If Jack Rudoni's free header goes in and Josh Koroma scores then you win the game. You can do something at 2-1 but you can't do much at 3-1. You can coach all day long. If you don't take your chances you don't win your games."
