A first away win under Darren Moore!
- Sunderland 1-2 Huddersfield Town
- A first victory on the road under Darren Moore
- Goals from Michał Helik and Delano Burgzorg
Town recorded a deserved first away win under Darren Moore’s management on a freezing cold night in Wearside, with goals from Michał Helik and Delano Burgzorg securing all three points against promotion-chasing Sunderland!
Helik’s fifth of the season gave the Terriers the lead in the first half before Luke O’Nien’s equaliser pegged us back, but the returning Delano Burgzorg netted a second half winner to send the Town fans in attendance home happy.
Moore made one change to the side that drew with Southampton at the weekend, replacing the injured Kian Harratt with fit-again Delano Burgzorg, and the setup was the same as the one that impressed against the Saints in the second half. Against the side that has the third highest average possession in the league, Town looked to contain their opponents before springing pacey counterattacks.
That worked well in the first 45, with Town causing problems. Just 12 seconds in, Burgzorg almost capitalised on hesitation between a defender and Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson to latch onto the ball in the box, but the custodian recovered well enough to smother his shot.
Burgzorg was in the action again in the fourth minute, helping to create a huge early chance. He beat a man before sliding a pass to the right for Josh Koroma, whose excellent, early low cross found Jaheim Headley. Patterson did well again, sensing the danger and narrowing the angle to make a save with his body.
Having stifled the hosts effectively, Koroma led another break on the quarter hour mark. This time he found Burgzorg ahead of him, but the on-loan Mainz player could only hit the outside of the side netting with his shot from a very narrow angle.
Chris Maxwell’s first save of the game in the 24th minute was a comfortable one from Adil Aouchiche’s curler from outside the area.
Town still looked threatening, and that was rewarded with the lead from a 28th minute set-piece – won when another counter from Koroma forced a defender to knock the ball behind. Sorba Thomas – on his 100th Town appearance – floated a deep delivery to the back post where Tom Lees returned a header across for Helik to nod home at close range. That was the Polish international’s fifth of the season.
Sadly for us, Sunderland found a way to level before the interval. Maxwell had to make a good save beforehand, pushing dangerman Jack Clarke’s free kick around his left-hand post after Helik had dragged down striker Eliezer Mayenda. However, he could do nothing to prevent a very similar Sunderland goal to Town’s opener in the 39th minute – Patrick Roberts’ deep free kick was headed back across goal for captain Luke O’Nien to volley home from a matter of yards.
The two sides traded speculative efforts as the second half got under way, but Maxwell had to come to the rescue again as the hour mark passed. Jobe Bellingham received a fantastic through pass that put him clear behind Matty Pearson, but our goalkeeper did superbly to come out and block his eventual shot with his left foot.
The Black Cats were having their best spell of the game so far at this stage, with Maxwell soon having to claw a curling Trai Hume effort out of the top corner – but then Town took the lead again!
The second came in the 67th minute, and Jaheim Headley deserved massive credit for his role in the goal. Picking the ball up on halfway, he chested it down before driving powerfully through the heart of the opposition. He made his way to the edge of the Sunderland box before an opponent finally tackled him, but the rebound fell to Delano Burgzorg, whose first time snapshot beat Patterson to his right and found the far corner.
Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray made five changes to try and find a way back into the game in the final 20 minutes, whereas Darren Moore welcomed Danny Ward back from his long injury lay-off.
Understandably Sunderland enjoyed the territorial pressure as they tried to find a leveller. Twice Maxwell had to save from former Town man Alex Pritchard and Clarke, who had efforts from our right side, whereas at the other end Thomas crashed a speculative shot well over on the break.
However, Town saw out the five minutes of added time to secure a massive three points.
Town’s team (3-4-3)
Chris Maxwell; Matty Pearson, Michał Helik, Tom Lees; Ben Jackson, David Kasumu, Jonathan Hogg (c) (Rarmani Edmonds-Green, 87’), Jaheim Headley; Sorba Thomas, Delano Burgzorg (Danny Ward, 68’), Josh Koroma (Brahima Diarra, 68’)
Unused substitutes
Jacob Chapman; Tom Edwards, Yuta Nakayama, Josh Austerfield, Loick Ayina, Tom Iorpenda
Town booking
Tom Lees (39’)
Gate
37,728
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