Wet, cold and miserable was probably how Town fans were feeling today walking out of the John Smith's Stadium after a game in which they utterly dominated yet somehow ended with Huddersfield coming away with absolutely nothing in a 1-0 defeat.
75% possession, 15 shots and ten corners showed an improvement in Huddersfield’s game but was still not enough to lift the terriers out the bottom three.
Story of the match
16 minutes in Newcastle got the first opportunity of the game when Christan Atsu was player into the box at a tight angle and managed to realise a shot, but Jonas Lossl got down well to stop the shot.
Four minutes later Huddersfield had their best chance of the half, Philip Billing released a shot from 35 yards which was a growing towards the top corner, somehow the Newcastle keeper managed to tip the ball over the bar and keep the game level.
Huddersfield went on to batter the Newcastle goal, shot after the shot and corner after corner but no real opportunities, so after 45 minutes of wet windy and a dominant performance from Town, the teams went in at the half at 0-0.
The second half started how the first ended, Huddersfield dominant in possession and shots but no real breakthrough. Then extremely against the run of play, Ayoze Perez and Javier Manquillo connected in the box, to square the ball to Rondon who couldn't miss from very close range.
Huddersfield continued to dominate the match, yet even after what was nearly 30 minutes straight of pressure by the Huddersfield front line, the Newcastle back four were somehow able to stand strong to get what was Newcastle's fourth win of the season.
Takeaways
Huddersfield improving
There has been a dramatic improvement in Huddersfield's game. The Terriers have never once looked like a bad team, especially at home, they have shown guts and energy in pressuring teams and have always maintained an attacking philosophy.
However in this game, it was different, they went out and really made Newcastle look like the weaker side, there wasn't a single ten-minute spell where Huddersfield didn't look like the dominating force in the match. They have improved their shooting as mentioned in the past and look to have changed their ways from relying on target men to create opportunities.
Dubravka pivotal for Mapgies
Martin Dubravka won the three points for Newcastle. The Magpies keeper was on top form today and had it not been for some of his brilliant saves throughout the match Newcastle would have surely lost the match. However it wasn't only amazing saves that he produced, it was the simple stuff, he hardly put a foot wrong, his short passing his long passing and simple saves were all made to perfection.
Man of the match
Man of the match has to the brilliant Newcastle number one, Dubravka, who should be getting some special thanks from his teammates for making sure they took all three points away from South Yorkshire today.