Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner has rated the club’s first league win against Manchester United in 65 years as one of his top three moments since taking over in 2015.
Six hectic first half minutes saw strikes from Aaron Mooy and eventual match-winner Laurent Depoitre send the John Smith’s Stadium to dreamland with a 2-0 lead at the break.
United crumbled shortly after the 23rd minute when Phil Jones tweaked his hamstring and his replacement, inexperienced Swede Victor Lindelöf, was arguably at fault for both of the hosts’ goals.
Marcus Rashford built on his fine form with 10 minutes left by heading in Romelu Lukaku’s pinpoint cross, which simply proved to be a consolation as the Terriers valiantly held on.
David Wagner proud of “huge” win
David Wagner has enjoyed an array of great days as Huddersfield Town manager, but there was no hesitation to put Saturday’s result up there with his finest.
“I would say, for sure, [the day was] one of the top three moments I’ve had as manager of this football club. This is a very, very proud moment because I know how huge it is for us, Huddersfield Town, that we’ve beaten Manchester United.”
Wagner added that he didn’t just enjoy the result, but also the performances his players have shown “not only today but especially today”. The German manager went as far as saying he told his players that he “can’t expect a result,” however, what he did expect was “belief, spirit and attitude” – all three traits that his side showed in full force.
Concentration the key to improvement
After Town’s latest Premier League home game ended in a 4-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, Wagner implied that his players took on advice to perform better on all fronts against an opponent of a similar calibre.
“I wasn’t critical, I was honest [after the Spurs game]. I said okay, I think even against Spurs we did well but made too many easy, sloppy mistakes, avoidable mistakes, and this is at least what you have to avoid if you want a chance against teams like these.”
“This is what we have done today – very focused, very concentrated and took our chances. I’m very proud that the players were brave and took their moment today with both hands.”
The result an “extraordinary” one
Despite the marvellous, and confident Huddersfield performance, their manager refused to get carried away when asked if the match can encourage his team to beat other top teams in the league.
“Absolutely not, I’ve said this before. I think we have to make it totally clear that everybody understands what are extraordinary and ordinary performances for us, and today was extraordinary. What we’ve seen against Swansea and Tottenham is probably ordinary and I think it’s very important that we’re all humble, realistic and have no unrealistic expectations.”
David Wagner, whose side now sit in 10th in the Premier League, will be eager to get back on the training pitch as soon as possible though, so he can prepare for next Saturday’s clash against good friend Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool at Anfield. The Terriers will be looking to ride their momentum and use their new-found confidence to pull off a second consecutive shock result in the top flight.