Sunday People

HUDD’SFIELD WEST HAM FELIPE OF FAITH Pel admits: My players’ mistake was believing we’d won before kick-off

- By SIMON MULLOCK at John Smith’s Stadium

A BOY from Brazil rescued West Ham just when it seemed they were going to be sunk by one of their own fans.

Felipe Anderson’s emphatic 74th-minute finish secured a point for Manuel Pellegrini’s side and stretched the Hammers’ encouragin­g run of Premier League form to three unbeaten matches.

It was no less than they deserved after dominating the second half, after an opening 45 minutes in which Huddersfie­ld led through boyhood West Ham supporter Alex Pritchard’s goal.

They had threatened more too, and boss Pellegrini took heart from the way his team responded after the break.

But he admitted: “The players made the mistake of thinking they had won the game before they had played.

“We played very badly in the first 45 minutes. When Huddersfie­ld scored their goal it all started to go wrong.

“We changed it at halftime. It was not difficult to tell the players what they needed to do.

“A draw was a fair result, but we did have two or three chances to win.”

Huddersfie­ld’s last top-flight victory over West Ham came in 1971.

“We are frustrated because we deserved to win for that first-half performanc­e,” said Terriers boss David Wagner. “We had everything apart from some good luck.”

Both teams could have scored during the opening exchanges.

Aaron Mooy’s shot was beaten behind by Lukasz Fabianski. And when Steve Mounie met Mooy’s corner with a meaty header, Fabianski diverted the ball onto the crossbar.

Moments later, Grady Diagana’s pass sent Marko Arnautovic clear at the other end, but the Austrian telegraphe­d his intentions and Jonas Lossl plunged to save.

When Huddersfie­ld went ahead in the sixth minute it was a memorable moment in more ways

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