Huddersfield Town knocked Premier League side Sunderland out of the Carabao Cup at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday evening to progress to the third round of the competition.
Leo Castledine’s superb early volley had put [Town](https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/all-about/huddersfield-town-fc) on course to progress, but Marc Guiu’s late header sent the tie to penalties.
The Terriers prevailed 6-5 on spot-kicks following the 1-1 draw, with Lee Nicholls the hero once again, saving the decisive penalty from Milan Aleksic to send Town through to round three.
The cup upset is Town’s second in as many rounds, having also knocked Championship side Leicester City out in the first round.
Town manager Lee Grant opted to make ten changes from Saturday’s victory over Stevenage, with only Murray Wallace retaining his place in the starting 11.
Lynden Gooch was handed the armband against his former club, with the summer recruit having come through the Black Cats’ academy to make 246 first-team appearances in all competitions for the hosts.
Meanwhile, Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris named an entirely different starting 11 from the team that were beaten 2-0 at Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday.
Town made a fine start to the contest by breaking the deadlock with a terrific strike nine minutes in. Gooch’s corner was cleared to the edge of the box, and Castledine rifled a volley high into the net to put the Terriers in front with his first goal for the club.
The hosts’ first moment of note came 15 minutes in, as Guiu’s strike was closed down on the left-hand side of the area.
Dion Charles was next to threaten for Town from another Gooch corner a few minutes later, but the forward drilled high and wide after being teed up by Joe Taylor.
The hosts had the lion’s share of possession in the first half, but Town defended impressively to restrict their top-flight opponents to limited openings. At the other end, the Terriers continued to pose a threat, with Cameron Ashia having a low strike saved and David Kasumu firing wide from distance either side of the half-hour mark.
Castledine had two efforts late in the half, one of which was blocked inside the box, while the other from range was held by Black Cats’ stopper Anthony Patterson, as the Terriers took a deserved lead into the interval.
The Black Cats created an early opening four minutes into the second half, but half-time substitute Jenson Jones couldn’t connect cleanly at the far post with a cross from the left.
Lee Nicholls produced an important stop to keep the Terriers in front a few minutes later. Murray Wallace’s pass was cut out by Chris Rigg and fell to Guiu inside the box, but the goalkeeper smothered the forward’s close-range attempt.
The stopper then did well to tip Enzo Le Fee’s free-kick over the bar shortly after the hour mark, while Nordi Mukiele spurned a glorious chance as the centre-back headed wide when unmarked from the resulting corner.
The hosts played with much greater urgency after the restart, and continued to put Town’s defensive resolve to the test as the contest headed into the final quarter.
Jones had a strike held by Nicholls and Patrick Roberts fired high and wide from a corner, while Taylor headed wide for Town in a rare second-half opportunity at the other end.
Rigg was next to spurn back-to-back chances for the hosts with just over 15 minutes left to play, with the midfielder opting to cross when in a promising position to shoot, before finding the side netting with his second attempt.
The Black Cats’ pressure told as they found an equaliser six minutes from time, with Guiu heading home from close range from Aleksic’s cross from the left.
A stoppage followed as a spectator received medical assistance, with 12 minutes of stoppage time being added. Ben Wiles and Herbie Kane both fired over for Town in injury-time, as the game went to penalties.
After the first 11 spotkicks of the shootout were scored, Nicholls saved the decisive effort from Aleksic to be the hero for a second consecutive round, sending Town through to round three.
Sunderland: Patterson, Huggins (Je Jones 45), Mukiele (Seelt 79), Masuaku, H Jones, Rigg, Neil (C), Le Fee, Roberts, Isidor (Aleksic 78), Guiu. Unused subs: Moore, Abdullahi, Ja Jones, Whittaker, Middlemas, Tutierov.
Town: Nicholls, Wallace, Whatmough, Gooch (C), Taylor (Harness 76), Charles (Radulovic 90+10), Kasumu, Roughan, Castledine (Wiles 67), Ashia (Sway 76), Vost (Kane 90+10). Unused subs: Goodman, Sorensen, Balker, Feeney.