Dejected Cowley so near yet so far
HOW it must hurt. To be 2-1 up and in with a very good chance of recording a first win since february, only to have it snatched away.
Danny Cowley had watched his side take the lead, be pegged back and then go in front once more. His Huddersfield side had worked tirelessly to keep their shape and stay compact.
But Grady Diangana, on loan from West Ham, would take it all away with just two kicks of the ball. Cowley (below) could only put his hands behind his head as Diangana delivered the most inviting of crosses which Darnell furlong headed in off Kamil Grabara’s right post to make it 2-2.
five minutes later, and with 15 minutes to play, Diangana produced the game’s biggest moment. He wriggled clear of Jonathan Hogg, Trevoh Chalobah and florent Hadergjonaj. He then turned inside, spotted Matt Phillips and supplied him with a pass that the winger guided past Grabara. By the time Semi Ajayi headed in Matheus Pereira’s corner for West Brom’s fourth in the 89th minute, it was all over.
It was devastating for Huddersfield, who were ahead twice after Lewis o’Brien’s opener and Karlan Grant’s fifth goal of the season came either side of Phillips’ first goal.
It is 19 matches now without a win and this makes it five defeats in five — bottom of the league with just one point.
‘Losing always hurts,’ Cowley said. ‘I felt we got to 60 minutes and it was: “oh, we’re 2-1 up at West Brom” and we’re playing for the end instead of playing to the end and there’s a big, big difference.
‘We got negative in our possession, gave the ball away and then you allow a team with very, very good players like West Brom to have attack after attack.’
for West Brom, while it may have taken a while, this was proof of just how dangerous they can be. Slaven Bilic’s side are the only unbeaten team in the Championship and sit in fourth place, one point behind leaders Leeds. Bilic’s side are yet to keep a clean sheet but the former West Ham manager isn’t going to let that bother him too much. He said: ‘ We are in a good position because we can criticise the players and learn from our mistakes that don’t cost us. You can criticise the players without killing their confidence and without slagging them off. ‘That’s a privilege but I also don’t want to sound negative because at the end of the day 4-2 at home, four goals, unbeaten, one point from the top and we should be happy.’