The Mooy done good as Rafa is left rattled
They had sold out of home shirts hours before kick- off and could barely cope with the tide of fans who flowed into the freshly painted, prefabricated hut they’re calling the huddersfield Town Megastore.
That’s what the anticipation looks and feels like when you have been waiting for the top flight since 1972.
But though preparations for this moment have been breathless — eight weeks to restructure the main stand, build a gantry and hospitality boxes — they and their manager seem to have time to spare and the wisdom of the ages.
‘everybody knows where we’ve come from,’ said David Wagner at the end, laughing at the notion huddersfield — who stand second in the table — can have pretensions about this season. his words reflected the classy modesty of a club who remembered their old heroes as they prepared to mint a generation of new ones.
Images of Denis Law and Ray Wilson adorn the walk to the stadium. Frank Worthington was among those invited on the pitch before the yorkshire mill town’s Premier League adventure began.
There is a quintessential york- shire thrift in the way they’ve spent their money, too. A relatively modest £30million has been laid out, with £8m Australian Aaron Mooy proving on this occasion what £11.7m Frenchman Steve Mounie did at Crystal Palace.
They conform to the relentless Wagner work ethic, as well as bringing goals — which was a weakness last season. ‘We were not one of the best teams in the Championship but we were one of the fittest and we will be one of the fittest in the Premier League, too,’ the German vowed.
Newcastle have spent marginally more than huddersfield, yet their performance screamed out to owner Mike Ashley what Rafael Benitez has been stating: that investment in creative players is required. Such is Tyneside’s thirst for glory that 12,000 people turned up this week to watch a new £5m striker train. That was Joselu, who did not even cut it at Stoke.
yet captain Jonjo Shelvey was sorely missed, as Newcastle turned in his absence to a 21-year- old Spaniard with only two top-tier games to his name. ‘It is a learning process,’ Benitez said. That certainly applied to Mikel Merino.
Mooy was huddersfield’s player of the season last year while on loan from Manchester City. The 26-year-old broke the deadlock in the match’s single sublime moment, stepping up from deep to pass the ball, receive it and arc a shot past Rob elliot.
Benitez admitted his side had lost the momentum of winning promotion. ‘It was a long time ago,’ he said. he offered no indication that Chelsea’s Kenedy will arrive on loan this week, as he hopes. ‘I don’t know,’ he said, resisting any temptation to discuss Ashley’s empty promises.
At least Newcastle’s defence was well organised. They may be pointless, but they don’t look like they will sieve many goals and the most common cause of relegation is defensive ineptitude.
harmony helps, though, when the margins between success and failure are so narrow.
In their last top-flight season, huddersfield, with Worthington in the ranks, did not manage a home win after defeating eventual champions Derby in November. A repeat of that form in such a buoyant
place as this seems unlikely in the extreme.
SUPER STAT: Huddersfield are only the third promoted team to win their opening two Premier League games, after Bolton (2001-02) and Hull (2015-16).
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (4-2-3-1): Lossl 7; Smith 6, Jorgensen 7, Schindler 7.5, Lowe 7; Mooy 8, Billing 6.5; Kachunga 6 (Palmer 72), Ince 6.5 (Hefele 90), Van la Parra 7 (Quaner 69); Mounie 6.5. Subs not used: Coleman, Malone, Lolley, Williams. Scorer: Mooy 50. Booked: Billing, Palmer, Mounie. Manager: David Wagner 8.
NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-2-3-1): Elliot 6; Manquillo 6, Lascelles 6, Mbemba 6, Clark 5.5; Merino 5.5, Hayden 6 (Diame 76, 6); Ritchie 6.5, Perez 7 (Murphy 80, 6), Atsu 6; Gayle 5 (Joselu 52, 6). Subs not used: Darlow, Saivet, Aarons, Mitrovic. Booked: Ritchie, Hayden, Joselu, Lascelles. Manager: Rafael Benitez 7.5.
Man of the match: Aaron Mooy. Referee: Craig Pawson 7. Attendance: 24,128.