Russell and Sarr lift Huddersfield to third as Luton pay penalty for miss
Huddersfield moved up to third in the Championship table after Jon Russell’s fine finish and Naby Sarr’s late header secured a 2-0 victory over Luton.
The visitors were left to rue a missed penalty from their top scorer, Elijah Adebayo, in between Huddersfield’s second-half goals. Carlos Corberan’s men are four points behind second-placed Bournemouth having played two games more, but moved four clear of their opponents and have a six-point cushion in the battle for playoff places.
Earlier, Danny Ward and Sorba Thomas had combined to create the first chance of the evening for Lewis O’Brien, who lifted a 15-yard attempt over the visitors’ crossbar. The hosts began to assert themselves after a cagey start, with Russell driving over from distance following positive play between O’Brien and Thomas.
Danel Sinani’s shot on the turn from eight yards out was then kept out at the near post by the Luton keeper, James Shea, after Thomas had threatened again through the left channel. Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu went on to flash a header just wide of his own goal following a dangerous O’Brien cross before Shea saved Thomas’ deflected 20-yard effort with his legs.
Levi Colwill headed over from a Sinani cross before the break, while Luton’s only goal attempt of the first half saw Harry Cornick’s edge-of-thebox effort parried to safety by Lee Nicholls. In the second period, Sinani’s 20yard shot was deflected behind by Kal Naismith before the Terriers broke the deadlock just before the hour mark.
Henri Lansbury had just let the field with a neck injury and his replacement Dan Potts, along with fellow substitute Robert Snodgrass, were caught napping from a throw-in by Pipa. Their sloppiness allowed Russell to loft a 12-yard half-volley at goal from a tight angle, which flew over Shea and into his topright corner.
In response, Adebayo headed a Naismith cross wide for Nathan Jones’ men but he then squandered an even better chance to level the scores in the 70th minute. The referee, Geoff Eltringham, pointed to the spot after Sinani tangled with James Bree as the Hatters full-back sprinted on to Naismith’s ball through the right channel.
Adebayo’s penalty glanced the outside of Nicholls’ right-hand post and after an ensuing melee, Naismith, Jonathan Hogg and Thomas all had their names taken by the referee. Adebayo then teed up Snodgrass for an opportunity that he scooped well over, while Amari’i Bell also curled wide from a similar distance.
Sarr came off the bench in the 83rd minute for striker Ward, and he put the outcome beyond doubt six minutes later. The centre-back was left unmarked at the far post to head in Thomas’s corner from close range.
After the match, Corberan kept his team focused on overhauling Bournemouth and earning automatic promotion. “Our target is to finish as high as we can and I won’t put a limit on that, because we want to give ourselves and our fans the highest level of satisfaction we can.”
“It was a very, very equal game but our defence was strong and competitive until the end and the small details went in our favour,” Corberan added, while Nathan Jones was left frustrated. “We were good for large parts of the game, but we switched off on two occasions and we also missed a penalty,” said the Luton manager.
Jones will look to bounce back in a lunchtime kick-off on Good Friday, when Luton host fourth-placed Nottingham Forest, while Huddersfield entertain QPR in the teatime game.