English Premier League: Efficiency enough to see 3 points for Huddersfield

It was now or never and thankfully for Wagner, his men took their chances now. A rare win for Huddersfield after beating Fulham by one goal in Monday Night Football.

The final fixture of Matchday 11 saw two poorly rated teams square off inside the Kirklees stadium. The home side was in search of something they haven’t achieved all season. The other, a bounce back in search of the second victory.

Besides the intensity of it being the best chance for both sides to get a victory. The match held a special feature for the Terriers, seeing this week marked the start of Wagner’s journey with Huddersfield, three years ago. It too in return, marked the German’s 50th win in Huddersfield colours.

Wagner must have had a bag of emotion before the game, but the crowd was behind him and the team all the way to the final whistle. The manager stated bravely, this was the one they had to win to start the push for Premier League survival.

Huddersfield 1-0 Fulham

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The game was not that exciting but had the potent feeling of a one null ballgame – knowing at any time the Terriers could lose their one-goal advantage at any moment. But one things for sure, Wagner hasn’t really got his men losing by big margins week in, week out.

So it was pretty assuring to see them close up shop and stay disciplined for most part of the game in defensive order. The goal came during the first 25 minutes and was a stroke of luck for the home side. An own goal by defender, Timothy Fosu-Mensah.

Strange enough, the team who scored the goal was the team who had the most passes (490), most possession in the game (55%) and the better passing accuracy of the two (72%). It’s enough to show us that all the possession in the world means nothing if you  don’t use it to penetrate each time you create an attacking phase in the game.

From here on out…

Huddersfield can definitely build on this late night victory over the Cottagers. They play another struggling team in West Ham. The next few games could be tricky, but there’s not a thing in this English Premier League campaign that suggests they can’t steal a point or three per game.

Fulham will continue to be tested for the net four fixtures. They have meetings with Liverpool, Leicester City, and Manchester United in those four. They could be sitting at the bottom of the table for several weeks to come.