Huddersfield Town made it through to the third round of the League Cup after knocking out Premier League new boys Sunderland on penalties. Town put in an almost flawless first half performance for a team playing against an opponent from a higher league, with Leo Castledine’s sublime strike the icing on the cake of an already great team performance. The second half involved a lot more hanging on and Sunderland had more chances than the one they scored. But Town held their shape well and eventually clawed their way back into the game enough to have chances to win it themselves in the dying stages.
The scores might not reflect a brilliant win against Premier League opposition but the real star of this performance (apart from Leo Castledine) was the collective effort of the team to work hard and limit Sunderland’s opportunities. It was a real collaborative performance and it’s reassuring that Lee Grant can make ten changes to his team and still see a unified and well-drilled team.
Here’s what I made of each individual performance.
Lee Nicholls – 7 out of 10
Played some nice passes out from the back but also put his teammates in trouble at times. Snuffed out a good Sunderland opportunity by coming off his line and taking a knock. Then while looking injured, made an excellent save to keep out Sunderland again. Couldn’t do anything about Sunderland’s goal. Then became the hero with an excellent save on Sunderland’s sixth penalty, which was so good it looked like their player had pulled it wide but Nicholls got right across to guide it around the post.
Lynden Gooch – 7 out of 10
Looked proud to be given the captaincy when up against his old club and acted like a leader on the pitch, particularly in guiding young Vost in midfield here and there. He was up against some quality players down his flank and stuck to his task with mostly good results. Understandably restricted on how much he could bomb forward but did support our attacks when he could. Stole yards at throw-ins to a ridiculous degree, which is completely acceptable and correct when it’s a Town player doing it.
Gooch’s dedication to stealing yards at throw ins may have been inspired by this speech.
Jack Whatmough – 8 out of 10
Headed everything that came near him away and looked very solid. Alert to any danger and snuffed it out without any fuss. Was composed and calm in the first half but had to scramble about a lot more in the second half when Sunderland repeatedly opened up our defence but he still did his job. Did slip at the worst possible moment when trying to clear the ball, which led to the chance Nicholls threw himself in front of. Overall, very impressive and gives Lee Grant a selection headache for Saturday.
Murray Wallace – 6 out of 10
Looked a lot more comfortable in central defence than left-back. Was very strong in the air and defensively solid. Had a pass intercepted that nearly cost us a goal after taking too long to release it. At other times he played some nice passes, but just needs to move the ball a bit more quickly. I’d also question whether he should have been in front of their attacker for the goal, as he was the closest player but wasn’t in a position to get in the way of the cross.
Sean Roughan – 7 out of 10
Played some nice balls forward from deep but didn’t push up the field as much as usual, particularly in the second half when we were under a lot of pressure. Solid and dependable.
Dan Vost – 6 out of 10
Very neat and tidy with everything he did but still looks a bit hesitant. The times when he was given the ball he looked decent but looked happy to avoid the limelight as much as possible. Showed he’d got a bit of steel when he clattered Rigg in the second half and nearly knocked him out.
David Kasumu – 8 out of 10
Looked really fired up for this game. Some good tackles, carried the ball up the field well with slaloming dribbles and even had a shot from range but it went wide. Gave us something completely different to Ledson and Kane in the centre and showed that he can fit into Lee Grant’s system despite his different skill set. Held his nerve and shook off cramp to take our sixth penalty despite looking very nervous before taking it.
Dion Charles – 5 out of 10
Played without his trademark headband but this change didn’t bring about a change in his fortunes. Joe Taylor teed him up to strike at goal from a corner but Charles smashed his shot wide. Despite still working hard all over the pitch, he looks very short on confidence. He’s doing lots of other work but we looked a lot better when Harness took up the right-sided attacking midfield role. Also put himself under needless pressure by picking up a silly booking.
Leo Castledine – 8 out of 10
What a goal! His volleyed strike flew into the net at such a speed that the keeper barely saw it. He showed good anticipation to react first to the knock down from the corner and beautiful technique to strike it so cleanly, especially because he had to stretch to hit the ball. Was busy all through the game and did a lot of running. Sometimes he was a bit too speculative with his balls forward and didn’t give his teammates a chance to get on the end of them. The high rating is based mostly on the goal-of-the-season contender but he was OK the rest of the time.
Cameron Ashia – 7 out of 10
Lots of hustle and bustle off the ball and some decent runs when he got on it. He did well to get a shot away from a tight angle in the first half but could only hit it straight at their keeper. Didn’t seem phased by playing Premier League opposition and clearly wanted to have a go at their back line.
Joe Taylor – 6 out of 10
Did a lot of running and was a proper nuisance to Sunderland’s defence. Had a couple of chances to get in behind Sunderland’s back line but the ball didn’t quite drop for him. His best moment came at a corner where he latched onto a loose ball and tangled with a defender but used some trickery to set up Charles.
Substitutes
Ben Wiles – 7 out of 10 – Helped Town keep the ball in the closing stages and showed good game awareness to slow play down and frustrated Sunderland. Took his penalty well too.
Marcus Harness – 8 out of 10 – Another experienced player that helped steady the ship in the late stages. He also set up a few attacks with some excellent passing and movement. My wife thinks he has dreamy eyes and he looked completely unphased by his penalty, so I’m bumping him up to an eight.
Jay Sway – 6 out for 10 – Had some nice moments but could have done better in others, needed helping out at times. It was a tricky stage of the game to come into cold and he looked a bit out of his depth but I think there were also signs that he can play a bit too.
Bojan Radulovic – N/A – Looked delighted to convert his penalty and celebrated with the players at the end.
Herbie Kane – N/A – Subbed on as a specialist penalty taker, similar to how American Football teams bring on their special teams to take field goals. Handled the pressure well and struck his penalty nicely.