Huddersfield: West Ham applied the hammer to the home side – All gone wrong for Wagner

HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND - JANUARY 13: Manuel Lanzini of West Ham United celebrates after scoring his sides fourth goal with Mark Noble of West Ham United and Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United during the Premier League match between Huddersfield Town and West Ham United at John Smith's Stadium on January 13, 2018 in Huddersfield, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND - JANUARY 13: Manuel Lanzini of West Ham United celebrates after scoring his sides fourth goal with Mark Noble of West Ham United and Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United during the Premier League match between Huddersfield Town and West Ham United at John Smith's Stadium on January 13, 2018 in Huddersfield, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

The home side Huddersfield looked off the pace completely, and displayed no signs of earlier success. West Ham did extremely well to capitalise on errors from the host. The final score of 1-4 was a true reflection of the game.

Early errors in the game costed Huddersfield tremendously. An unusual sight to see the home side do so badly – but they only have themselves to blame for what went on at the Kirklees Stadium on Saturday past.

Truth be told, Moyes has really gotten the best out of Marko Arnautovic and Manuel Lanzini. The two were hassling and harried Wagner’s back line, repeatedly.

This game, plus Spurs and Man United wins, were the only games to have a three goal margin. Why this is so good for the Hammers – come this time last season, they were usually on the receiving end of those three goals.

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Huddersfield and West Ham match stats:

Huddersfield
Stat
West Ham
1Goals4
65%Possession35%
80%Pass Accuracy68%
8Total Shots8
2Shots on Target6
7Corners3
13Tackles21
0Offsides5
7Fouls9
1Yellow Cards1
0Red Cards0

Game recap between Huddersfield and West Ham:

As early as the 25th minute of the game, West Ham took advantage of a defensive error. However, the strike by captain Mark Noble, was an outstanding attempt to take the lead.

Move on a couple of minutes and just before the halftime break, and Huddersfield’s Joe Lolley, finesses a lovely curler to make the scores level. After the equalizer it was game on and seemed as though the momentum shifted in Wagner’s favour. However, Moyes had other plans when the second half started.

From the centre (probably three to four passes for the most), West Ham started the half with a goal after their inform, Arnautovic scored and put them back in front. After the Austrian attacker gave them the way to put them on top – it took about 15 minutes to put them up by three goals.

Three nails hammered into the coffins for the Terriers – nothing could be done to rescue a lost cause. Lanzini scored a brace in similar fashion from each other, minutes apart. Magic from the Argentine.

What this means for both teams:

West Ham took all six points up for grab in this fixture, home and away. Even under Bilic, the Terriers had no answer to the London club. Moyes takes it to five games unbeaten and meet up with Bournemouth in their next Premier League encounter.

Huddersfield on the other hand – has struggled to get a consistent run of games going. After this loss – they’ve earned themselves back-to-back losses in the Premier League. They haven’t won a single game in the last five.

Huddersfield goes up against a Stoke side under new management – always a difficult ask for a team experiencing a bad patch. Hopefully, Wagner adds another player to the ranks before the next fixture, just to help freshen up his squad – who’s probably feeling the december fixtures. Tired legs!

Huddersfield player ratings:

Goalkeeper:  Lossl (GK) – 5.2

Defence: Malone (LB) – 6.1; Schindler (CB) – 6.5; Zanka (CB) – 5.7; Smith (RB) – 5.4

Midfield: Parra (RM) – 6.6; Hogg (CM) – 6.5; Mooy (CM) – 6.9; Ince (LM) – 6.2; Lolley (CAM) – 6.1

Forwards: Depoitre (CF) – 6.1

Substitutions: Pritchard – 6.2; Kongolo – 6.3

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West Ham player ratings:

Goalkeeper:  Adrian (GK) – 6.2

Defence: Cresswell (CB) – 6.8; Ogbonna (CB) – 7.5; Collins (CB) – 7.3

Midfield: Zabaleta (RWB) – 7.1; Kouyate (CM) – 7.1; Noble (CM) – 7.9; Masuaku (LWB) – 7.8 Obiang (CAM) – 7.5

Forwards: Lanzini (SS) – 9.7; Arnautovic (CF) – 9.2

Substitutions: Ayew – 5.9; Rice – 6.1

Player ratings taken from WhoScored.com