A late turnaround condemned Huddersfield Town to a 2-1 defeat against Bristol City at the John Smith’s Stadium.
After Josh Koroma had put Town into a first half lead, late goals from Antoine Semenyo and Jamie Patterson turned the game on its head and ensured the visitors would take all three points from West Yorkshire.
Carlos Corberán made three changes to the side that impressively overcame Millwall just three days earlier in the capital.
Having come off the bench to play their part in that victory, Pipa and Fraizer Campbell returned to the XI and were joined by Richard Stearman who formed one third of Town’s back three for the visit of the Robins.
Getting underway at the slightly earlier time of 7pm at the John Smith’s Stadium, the game endured a scrappy start as both sides attempted to assert early authority.
The best chance of the opening exchanges went to the visitors and to a man Town fans know well as former Terrier Nahki Wells struck the crossbar with a looping improvised effort from just inside the penalty area.
Town’s best attempt inside the first 20 minutes came courtesy of the man that all-but sealed Saturday’s win at The Den.
Pipa drove inside from the right flank with the ball before powering a curling effort straight at Bristol City ‘keeper Daniel Bentley.
The sides continued to battle as the game reached the half-hour mark and both had efforts from range in quick succession.
Moments after Chris Martin had driven wide for the Robins, Pipa tried his luck again from the edge of the box but skewed his effort wide of the goal.
The Robins again went close just over five minutes before the interval. Zak Vyner was unmarked and connected with a corner from the left but nodded wide of Ben Hamer’s goal.
Despite the chances being evenly distributed throughout the half, it was the Terriers who had nearly two thirds of the possession just before the break. Town made it pay in the minute before the whistle for the interval, finding the opener.
Just as he did on Saturday, Josh Koroma latched on to a ball in from the right to open the scoring, this time it was Isaac Mbenza who found him with an incisive pass, with Town’s no.19 doing the rest to score his third goal of the season.
After the break, it was Koroma again bearing down on the Robins goal. This time the forward took the ball into the box himself but curled high over the bar once he had found the space to let loose.
The visitors' first opportunity to hit back came through former West Brom man Chris Brunt after the ball broke to him in acres of space around 12 yards out, but he couldn’t connect with the ball properly, miscuing his effort wide of the target.
As the Robins continued their pursuit towards a leveller, the game re-entered a scrappy phase with the minutes ticking along on a chilly evening at the John Smith’s Stadium.
But on 77 minutes, the visitors eventually found the opening needed to get their equaliser.
Substitute Antoine Semenyo slipped and looked to have controlled the ball with his hand before returning to his feet and picking out Jay Dasilva at the back post who tapped into an empty net.
That momentum pushed the Robins on to a quickfire second to turn the game around with less than 10 minutes left to play.
After the ball pinballed around the penalty area, it broke to substitute Jamie Patterson who found the net with his close-range finish.
With limited time remaining, the Terriers attempted to get back on level terms but the visitors held their shape to keep Town out and claim all three points from the Tuesday night encounter.
Next up for the Terriers is the visit of Luton Town to the John Smith’s Stadium in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday 7 November 2020; 3pm kick-off.
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (3-4-1-2)
Ben Hamer; Naby Sarr, Christopher Schindler (c) (Matty Daly, 85’), Richard Stearman; Harry Toffolo, Jonathan Hogg, Lewis O’Brien, Pipa; Fraizer Campbell; Josh Koroma (Carel Eiting, 74’), Isaac Mbenza (Adama Diakhaby, 79’)
Unused subs
Joel Pereira; Demeaco Duhaney, Romoney Crichlow, Jaden Brown
BRISTOL CITY (3-5-2)
Daniel Bentley; Tommy Rowe (Famara Diedhiou, 59’), Tomáš Kalas, Zak Vyner; Jay Dasilva, Chris Brunt (Jamie Paterson, 68’), Ádám Nagy, Callum O’Dowda, Jack Hunt; Chris Martin, Nahki Wells (Antoine Semenyo, 68’)
Unused subs
Max O’Leary; Taylor Moore, Tyreeq Bakinson, Han-Noah Massengo
REFEREE
Peter Bankes
