Jonathan will Hogg headlines after win
JONATHAN HOGG scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner as Huddersfield continued their unbeaten start to the Championship campaign.
Hogg came off the bench to smash home the winner in the second minute of added time.
The midfielder, who signed a contract extension at the start of the month, capped a thrilling Yorkshire derby which put the Terriers top of the table.
Town went ahead in the first half through left-back Chris Lowe but Alfie Mawson headed home an equaliser just after the break.
That sparked an end-to-end second half but it was Huddersfield who kept going to triumph in front of a raucous 20,001-strong crowd.
Huddersfield went ahead in the 26th minute when Lowe exchanged passes with Elias Kachunga to surge into the box, curling a left-footed finish into the top-right corner.
While Town dominated the first half Barnsley snatched the initiative by equalising in the 47th minute.
Marc Roberts launched one of his trademark long throws, which proved as good as a corner, and Mawson rose well to head home.
The game see-sawed until, with two of the five minutes of added time gone, Town refused to settle for a point.
Kachunga played Hogg in and the midfielder kept his composure for fire home his first league goal for the club to send fans into raptures.
Terrier boss David Wagner paid tribute to matchwinner Hogg.
He said: “It was an unbelievable moment – Hoggy showed today that he will never give up trying to score a goal.”
Disappointed Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom said: “It was a game of two halves – I was disappointed with how we performed in the first half. The effort was there but the intensity wasn’t.
“With the ball we let ourselves down and didn’t retain possession up top and we didn’t capitalise on any of our counter-attacking opportunities. I felt we had three really good ones that we should have scored from.”
And if it was, then it certainly came a lot sooner than he could ever have expected.
Ronald Koeman left the Belgian striker, who scored 17 goals for the Baggies during a loan spell from Chelsea, on the bench.
But he had seen enough within the first half-hour when he told his most priceless asset to strip off, with Everton trailing to a Gareth McAuley header.
Within seven minutes of replacing Ireland international James McCarthy, the big front man had shaken up the Baggies.
Now Koeman wants to tie Lukaku down to a new deal after the Belgium ace ended fears that he will move before the end of the transfer window.
The striker has told his boss he is happy to stay for at least another season but hinted it could be even longer. Koeman said: “He’s made his decision by himself to stay and that was great news and possibly he will sign a new contract.
“When you go one-nil down you need a target man, from that stage we were the dominating team.”
Lukaku might not have ended his top-flight drought – it is now 10 games without a goal – but just his muscular presence unnerved Pulis’ makeshift defence.
He was not involved in the build-up to Everton’s goals but had already stirred up a backline that had bullied lone starting striker Gerard Deulofeu into submission.
An equaliser in the opening minute of first-half stoppage time was exactly what Koeman needed after his bold 38th-minute change.
Kevin Mirallas and Ross Barkley exchanged passes and Jonas Olsson did not get tight enough to stop the Belgian midfielder turning to beat Ben Foster with an accurate drive.
Maarten Stekelenburg twice had come to Everton’s rescue, getting his right boot to Darren Fletcher’s second-half goalbound shot
He had also stopped Salomon Rondon from getting on the scoresheet after only eight minutes but on that occasion it was only a temporary reprieve. Defender McAuley soared above his markers to meet Craig Gardner’s corner.
Everton cranked up the second-half pressure – Deulofeu hooking a close-range shot against the post before Ramiro Funes Mori saw his header brilliantly turned behind by Foster.
As with Stekelenburg’s early save, relief was shortlived. Leighton Baines’ corner produced the winner via a downward nod from teenager Mason Holgate and Gareth Barry’s final touch.
Pulis said: “I thought we were the better team in the first half but they brought Lukaku on and I thought they were the better team in the second half.” WEST BROM: EVERTON: