Re-live Town’s 3-1 home victory over Brighton
- Flashback to Town’s 3-1 win over Brighton in 2017
- Post-match reaction from Nahki Wells and David Wagner
- Watch the full 90 minutes on #HTTV!
What a game this was! We look back at Huddersfield Town’s 3-1 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion during the 2016/17 Sky Bet Championship promotion-winning season.
The Terriers took another huge step to securing a Play-Off spot with a thrilling win over then-leaders on a chilly Thursday evening at the John Smith’s Stadium back in February 2017.
With David Wagner’s Town side advancing to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup with a win at Rochdale a few days earlier, the German made nine changes to his side, giving it a refreshed look for the visit of the Seagulls.
The refreshed look brought a further fresh impetus to the team, and it showed on the pitch, as a first-half blitz on the Brighton goal helped put Town in a commanding position going into the break.
Captain Tommy Smith opened the scoring inside 10 minutes, after his left-footed effort from inside the box found its way past David Stockdale at the near post to put the Terriers ahead in-front of the Sky Sports cameras.
The league leaders made a quick response on the 20th minute mark, however, after a mix-up at the back allowed Tomer Hemed to draw the Seagulls level.
From that moment on though, it was an evening to remember for the majority of the 20,000+ inside the John Smith’s Stadium.
Nahki Wells restored Town’s lead with a precise strike into the top corner, after the ball fell to him inside the penalty area, moments before Elias Kachunga was on hand to head home a third from close range inside first half stoppage time.
When the second 45 kicked-off, it was the Terriers who were in the ascendency on the scoreline and were soon to be playing with an extra player too.
Brighton’s Lewis Dunk was shown a second yellow card for a challenge on Izzy Brown, meaning the visitors had to play the remainder of the game down to 10.
Town nearly capitalised on that advantage in numbers and would have done had it not been for the woodwork.
After Rajiv van La Parra had struck the post in the first half, Aaron Mooy did the same with a drilled strike from range as Town looked to get the goal that would all-but wrap up the points.
There was to be no fourth goal for Town in the closing stages, but there was a debut from the bench for forward Collin Quaner, who had joined from 2.Bundesliga side Union Berlin in the previous month.
With a big three points secured, Town forward Nahki Wells was delighted with the Terriers’ spirited performance across the pitch, when speaking to #HTTV following the game.
“It was a fantastic performance from all 14 of us, including the subs – everyone was a 10 out of 10 tonight. We gave 100% and our efforts showed,” he said.
Nahki’s goal, and Town’s second on the night, turned out to be the all-important strike, with the Terriers holding the lead in the match from that moment on.
“It was a bit frustrating to have played so well and for them to get back level after a sloppy goal from us (to concede).
“But it was an important goal and it was probably the deciding goal because it put the momentum back in our favour and got us back on track. I’m delighted to score.”
Town Manager David Wagner was also impressed with the performance post-match, expressing that his players followed the gameplan perfectly.
“It was a great performance – very strong and very focused.
“They (the players) did exactly what we spoke about; we wanted to brave, we wanted to stay on the front foot, to press high and to really get in their faces.
“They totally deserve this result.”
Following the match, David also praised the Huddersfield Town supporters and the atmosphere created on the night inside the John Smith’s Stadium.
“It’s so important, if you like to play this high-energetic football, you need the energy from the stands. This was again something that helped them on the pitch.”
Re-live a great night in HD1 below on #HTTV!
