Huddersfield Town returned from the international break with a 1-1 draw against Brentford in the Sky Bet Championship.
Lewis O’Brien’s early goal put Town ahead at the John Smith’s Stadium but Mads Bech Sørensen’s effort shortly after half-time ensured that the points would be shared from the early kick-off in West Yorkshire.
Head Coach Carlos Corberán made two changes to the side from the final game before the international break with Álex Vallejo and Yaya Sanogo coming back into the XI.
It meant that Naby Sarr, who has played more Championship minutes than any other Town player so far this season, made his 150th appearance in English competitions in the early Saturday afternoon encounter.
17 days on from that last outing at Sheffield Wednesday before the break, the Terriers made a quick start upon their return.
The former of those two returnees made an instant impact with his pressing effort leading to the game’s opening goal for Town on seven minutes.
Having recovered the ball, Vallejo played in Lewis O’Brien who caught Brentford ‘keeper David Raya off guard and found the net to put the Terriers ahead with the first attack of the game.
Prior to setting up that goal, the Spaniard had taken a knock to the head that had troubled him and forced him into an early exit on 23 minutes, with Juninho Bacuna, fresh from international duty with Curaçao, on to replace him.
After the Terriers had taken the lead, Naby Sarr put in a good block to preserve it at the other end. The defender’s slide was enough to divert Sergi Canós’ effort away from the goal.
In the final moments of the half, Ivan Toney rose highest to meet a corner from the left as the visitors looked to draw level, but Bryan Mbeumo couldn’t quite latch onto it at the back post.
Less than five minutes after the break, the Bees did get their goal to get back on terms with Town. After Pontus Jansson’s original effort was cleared off the line, the ball stayed in the penalty area and was worked to Mads Bech Sørensen who bundled the ball into the net to make it 1-1.
The visitors nearly completed a quick turnaround soon after when Toney worked some space and struck against the post from a tight angle.
At the other end, Town were also troubling the goal, as Bacuna whipped just over with a free-kick from around 25 yards out.
With just over 15 minutes left, the Terriers went close to the all-important third goal.
Demeaco Duhaney powered forward from right-back, and after coming back inside, he was denied his first Terriers goal by an alert David Raya, who sprung low to his left to keep the 22-year-old’s effort out.
That turned out to be the game’s final opportunity as both teams withstood late pressure in the five minutes of added on time to ensure that they would each take at least a point from the contest in West Yorkshire.
Next up for Town is a trip to Carrow Road to face Norwich City in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday 6 April 2021; 7.45pm kick-off.
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (4-2-3-1)
Ryan Schofield; Pipa (Aaron Rowe, 59’), Naby Sarr, Richard Keogh, Demeaco Duhaney; Jonathan Hogg, Álex Vallejo (Juninho Bacuna, 23’); Lewis O’Brien, Fraizer Campbell (Danny Ward, 81’), Duane Holmes (Richard Stearman, 59’); Yaya Sanogo
Unused subs
Joel Pereira; Isaac Mbenza, Sorba Thomas, Rarmani Edmonds-Green, Scott High
BRENTFORD (4-3-3)
David Raya; Mads Bech Sørensen, Ethan Pinnock, Pontus Jansson, Mads Roerslev; Christian Nørgaard, Vitaly Janelt (Mathias Jensen, 62’), Saman Ghoddos (Tarique Fosu, 71’); Sergi Canós (Emiliano Marcondes, 71’), Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeumo (Marcus Forss, 81’)
Unused subs
Luke Daniels; Charlie Goode, Winston Reid, Jan Žambůrek, Mads Bidstrup
REFEREE
Oliver Langford
