A well organised performance earns Town a point on the road
- Middlesbrough 0-0 Huddersfield Town
- Organised defence fights to earn a point away from home
- First clean sheet away from home this season
Huddersfield Town took a point away from the game at Middlesbrough after a hard-fought afternoon at Riverside Stadium in the Sky Bet Championship.
A well organised Town side left Riverside with a point and a first away clean sheet of the season, whilst also having the best chances to take the lead.
Mark Fotheringham’s side showed their fighting spirit in both the first and second half of the Sky Bet Championship fixture.
The first action of the game came in the second minute as Middlesbrough put pressure on the Town box and were then awarded a corner due to Tom Lees heading the ball away from danger. Though the corner was taken well, it was defended strongly by Michał Helik.
Town followed this by Jack Rudoni, making his 100th start, closing on the Boro box after David Kasumu won back possession, but he was outnumbered by defenders and couldn’t find space as the home defence took back the ball and started on their counter-attack. This ended with Isiah Jones in the box with the ball as he prepared to shoot but Helik stood strong to deny any further movement from the forward.
Shortly after, Town had a second chance to go ahead as Sorba Thomas was found on the side of the box and he sent a low cross into in as he hoped to find Danny Ward’s right foot, but the ball went just behind him, and the chance was missed. This once again lead to Middlesbrough being on the counter-attack, which saw Jones send a cross into the box but Lee Nicholls held onto the ball comfortably.
Another great Nicholls save was seen after a corner was taken well for Boro, our shot-stopper got down to his left to deny the header from Dael Fry.
Duncan Watmore got the ball on the edge of the box but didn’t have the room to turn and shoot thanks to Ollie Turton. This sent the Terriers on the counter-attack and they won a corner due to the hard work of Duane Holmes. The initial corner was flicked out by Jonny Howson and the second corner from Thomas was direct on goal and deflected off the crossbar!
After Town held possession well for a while, the home side were in for a chance after Watmore once carried the ball into the box and tried to find the back of the net, but his efforts were denied due to the wall of our defence.
A free kick was awarded to the home side on the edge of the box after a foul from Kasumu, it was hit direct by Alex Mowatt but curled just past the post of Nicholls’ goal.
Thomas fancied his chances from range in the last bit of action from the first half, his shot from just outside the box following a Turton throw-in went just wide to the left of Zack Steffen’s goal as Town looked to go ahead before the break.
The Terriers came out in the second half on the front foot as Steffen had to make a double save within the first minute of restart. Rudoni’s shot from range was blocked by the Boro’s shot-stopper, so Ward went for the rebound, but this called for the second save to be made from the quickly recovered goalkeeper.
A great defensive tackle was made by Yuta Nakayama as Jones made his way to the penalty spot to take his shot – his pockets were picked, and he was denied the chance.
Town’s defence showed their strength once again as Turton put pressure on Boro substitute Rodrigo Muniz so his shot is hit high and over the crossbar.
The home side were awarded a free kick just outside of the box after a foul on Jones from Holmes, multiple chances are blocked inside the box and ball eventually goes wide of the goal.
A fast break from the Terriers saw Rudoni’s cross towards Town substitute Jordan Rhodes blocked and out for a corner, which Thomas stepped up to take – nothing came from this set piece.
A corner for Middlesbrough in injury time called for Town’s defence to step-up once again, great tackles from Nakayama and Rudoni denied the home side their chances to take the lead and the last chance of the game came from Marc Bola, who fired his shot from outside box and it went wide and Town leave with a point and a clean sheet.
Town’s team (4-5-1)
Lee Nicholls; Ollie Turton, Tom Lees, Michał Helik, Yuta Nakayama; Sorba Thomas, David Kasumu, Etienne Camara, Jack Rudoni, Duane Holmes (Ben Jackson, 85’); Danny Ward (Jordan Rhodes, 62’)
Unused subs
Nicholas Bilokapic, Connor Mahoney, Jon Russell, Josh Ruffels, Brahima Diarra