Huddersfield 0 City 2
Match Report: Graham Tracey
What a privilege it was to witness this match, as Anthony Knockaert sealed his place in Foxes folklore with TWO goals of the season to lift us to second in the league on the back of a 4 game winning streak.
It was one of the most commanding away performances in recent memory, and Knockaert’s virtuoso show will have had fans of different ages recalling the exploits of bygone entertainers like Stan Collymore, Julian Joachim and Frank Worthington.
Right from the start we looked good, with excellent understanding on both flanks – Konchesky and Dyer on the left, and Moore and Knockaert on the right. It was my first sighting of Moore, and the best tribute I can pay him is that he looked like he was a veteran of 300-400 matches like the rest of the back line.
The centre back pairing of Morgan and St Ledger was very solid, although I’m not sure what the likes of Walshy and Taggart would have made of tough defenders wearing green and red boots respectively. In midfield, King spread the ball about and Drinkwater particularly caught the eye with an action man performance.
For all our early dominance we hadn’t had much to show, other than a powerful Vardy shot straight at the keeper, when a huge wind got up and threatened to spoil proceedings. However, it worked in our favour as it only extended Schmeichel’s kicks, which began to reach Town’s penalty area.
The wind must also have helped, although in no by means fully explain, Knockaert’s opener on the half hour. Cutting inside from the right, he let fly with his left foot from what must have been 35 yards. It was one of those shots where initially you think it cannot possible trouble the keeper from that range, but as we suddenly saw the keeper desperately back-pedalling as it swerved and dipped we rapidly got to our feet in time to see the top of the net bulge.
There was a fitting celebration, with the Frenchman sprinting across the pitch to the dugout with the whole team in frantic pursuit. Half time was reached without incident, with the lead almost doubled just before the whistle when King fired a knock down just wide.
With closing out games hardly being our speciality, and with several defeats snatched from the jaws of victory on our travels last season, I envisaged a much tougher second half. But in the event it was a stroll in the park.
We were getting to the by line on both flanks, and after Vardy had sliced one great chance wide, a similar low cross led to the coup de grace. The ball from Konchesky was behind Knockaert, but he just managed to check his stride sufficiently to back heel the ball over his head and that of the keeper, who could only palm it over the line. It was an incredible piece of improvised skill, and player, team-mates and fans all instantly knew it was something special as we celebrated together.
Knockaert, who had been booked for a tussle just before, seems to have a good relationship with Nigel Pearson, which is a good thing as the boss hasn’t always favoured flair players (e.g. Max Gradel). Knockaert’s performance was such that I could now understand why Gallagher had been loaned out, which had originally baffled me.
Like a 5 a side team who realise they can’t compete against opposition with such a star player, Town’s heads went down as they lamely played out time. I cannot remember Schmeichel having to use his hands all night.
We now started running at them from midfield at will, but couldn’t add to our tally, coming closest when sub Waghorn teed up Nugent, whose low drive was superbly saved by the sprawling keeper.
As I don’t get to many games I often wonder if I get carried away when I see us win. Certainly things can change quickly in this division, and maybe Huddersfield’s play-off place position was misleadingly high, but without the ability to string wins together you’ll never be a beneficiary of such change. Now we seem to have belief, we wait to see if this gives us the consistency to stay at the top.
City: Schmeichel 7, Konchesky 8, Morgan 8, St Ledger 7, Moore 8, Dyer 7, Drinkwater 9, King 7, Knockaert 10, Nugent 8, Vardy 6. Subs used: Schlupp (77), Waghorn (80), Marshall (90)
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation