TERRIERS BANG ON THE MOUNIE
THE thousands who had travelled from West Yorkshire to South-East London celebrated in some style.
And who could blame them on a historic day when another big dent was left in the reputation of Frank de Boer?
He was the man to bring style and panache to Palace. Yesterday, the word was passive. Huddersfield took his team apart and recorded a famous win in their first Premier League outing.
It was also the first time in more than 45 years that Town had won in the top flight, but with the likes of Steve Mounie around, that was always going to end.
The Benin international scored twice in a dream debut following his £ 11.5million move from Montpelier.
“The name came on the table from our scouting department,” said the Terriers’ manager David Wagner (right).
“I watched him, I met him and I was impressed.
“What is unusual for a striker is that he is openminded and he likes to work. He defends as well as attacks.”
Not far behind in the credit stakes was Aaron Mooy, a midfield hardman with a tackle to fear. Ask Luka Milivojevic. The Serb was left flattened by a shuddering challenge from the Aussie and taken off at half time.
De Boer was nonplussed by the Palace performance – and he blamed a 15-minute spell in the first half, saying: “We lost the game in that time. Not the start we expected or wanted. We made the wrong choices, the wrong decisions.”
First Joel Ward was unfortunate to deflect a ball from Mathias Jorgensen past a stranded Wayne Hennessey. Two minutes later, Mounie scored his first – a powerful header from a cross by Mooy. It took Palace 42 minutes to muster a shot on target and they revived a little with the introduction of Andros Townsend for the winded Milivojevic.
Christian Benteke was at last given ammunition and his header was tipped over by Jonas Lossi approaching the hour.
“We needed to score then,” said De Boer. “If we had made it 2-1, I think we could have got a point.” Mounie had other ideas. On 78 minutes, he turned in a cross from sub Collin Quaner. Game over. Wagner, though, was not getting carried away. “We will not change our identity. We will stick to what we have done in the past. Look, maybe we were a bit lucky today.
“Crystal Palace have one of the strongest attacking line-ups in the Premier League and they did not take their opportunities. “But you need luck at this level. I thought we showed togetherness, we worked hard and had a great attitude. The commitment, for sure, is there.
“Did I expect this? No. But I hoped for it. And we are still progressing. We are far from our best. There is more to come.”
For De Boer, it is back to the drawing board after what he called “a hard lesson for the staff and the players.” He said: “We didn’t do what we should have done.”
De Boer struggled to get ideas across to the likes of Ivan Perisic and Champions League finalist Miranda at Inter Milan. He lasted around 80 days. Hopefully he will get longer at Selhurst Park.