Huddersfield Town vs Manchester United. Premier League.
The John Smith's StadiumAttendance24,169.
Saturday 21 October 2017 21:10, UK
Huddersfield earned a famous 2-1 victory over Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday at the John Smith's Stadium.
Huddersfield went ahead through Aaron Mooy, who found the net after Tom Ince's turn-and-shot was saved by David de Gea on 28 minutes, before Laurent Depoitre made it 2-0 by capitalising on substitute Victor Lindelof's mistake in defence five minutes later.
Sub Marcus Rashford halved United's deficit on 78 minutes - heading home Romelu Lukaku's deep cross - and though Chris Smalling saw a late chance blocked, United couldn't force a leveller.
The loss is United's first of the Premier League season, leaving them five points behind leaders Manchester City. Huddersfield are up to 10th.
In the first meeting between these two sides in 45 years, Huddersfield were ahead just before the half-hour mark through Mooy, who finished the move he had started.
Dispossessing Juan Mata in midfield following the Spaniard's poor touch, Mooy raced forward and fed Tom Ince, whose shot was saved by De Gea into the path of Mooy to finish off into the far corner.
Lindelof - who had been on the pitch just 10 mintues after replacing the injured Phil Jones - was at fault for the second goal, ducking his head from a long Jonas Lossl clearance to allow Depoitre in, and the strike duly rounded De Gea to pass into the empty net.
Jose Mourinho introduced Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Rashford at half time, using up all of his subs by the start of the second half, but United failed to create a clear chance until 76 minutes after Lossl superbly pushed away Ander Herrera's glancing header.
Rashford made it 2-1 with 12 minutes remaining, heading into the ground and past Lossl unmarked from Lukaku's fine cross from the right for his seventh goal of the season.
United huffed and puffed for an equaliser, and came closest in the fourth minute of injury time through Smalling, whose effort unmarked at the back post was superbly blocked by Mathias Jorgensen.
If Huddersfield are to stay up, they'll likely have Mooy to thank most. Mooy ran more than any other player on the pitch on Saturday (13.04km) and made more passes than any of his team-mates as he commanded a midfield set up to disrupt the likes of Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera in possession.
The first goal epitomised the Australian - hounding down Juan Mata, he won the ball on halfway, burst forward and unselfishly fed Tom Ince to shoot - and was in the right place to follow up with the rebound.
A special mention must go to Rajiv van la Parra, who arrived as a sub in the first half and put in a tireless display down the right flank, constantly gaining ground as Huddersfield looked to push out from each United attack.
Paul Merson: "If you'd have said to me Man United will lose this game 2-1, I'd have assumed the goalkeeper is coming off as man of the match for Huddersfield.
"But it wasn't the case. Three shots on target and one good save. That's not Man United-like. I said United had a straightforward start to the season, but I expected them to win today. Every single one of those Huddersfield players stuck to the game plan."
David Wagner: "This result is so huge for Huddersfield, us as a football club, to beat Manchester United at home, their first defeat of the season. I think this is an absolutely huge moment for everybody.
"Today was our moment, we were at our best, maybe Man Utd weren't at their best, and the players made me very proud today. This is for sure one of the proudest moments in my managerial career. This is what makes me very happy."
Jose Mourinho: "We deserved to lose. The team that wanted it more, wanted to work more, compete more and be more aggressive, they won. And when the best team win, nothing to say.
"I don't know why, and I'm not going to be critical of my players with you, I have to analyse with them. But I just want to be as honest and pragmatic as possible and say that the best team won."
United go to Swansea on Tuesday in the Carabao Cup last 16, before hosting Spurs, live on Sky Sports Premier League on Saturday at 12.30pm. Huddersfield aren't in the Carabao Cup, and go to Anfield to face Liverpool next Saturday at 3pm.
