Yorkshire | Huddersfield Town pushed Man City hard in defeat

Huddersfield Town 0 - 2 Manchester City

Huddersfield pushed City hard but were undone by Phil Foden’s quality as he scored one and created another to send his side into the fourth round.

Author | Andy Jackson

Stadium | Accu Stadium

The League One side showed commendable spirit against the eight-time winners of the competition and carved out openings that might on another night have shifted the momentum. 

Zepiqueno Redmond fired over when the ball fell invitingly to him on the edge of the box, while skipper Ben Wiles dragged wide from a promising position as the hosts enjoyed their best spell of the first half.

READ MORE | Huddersfield Town held by Burton Albion

By then, however, City had already struck. Foden combined neatly with teenage debutant Divine Mukasa before drilling a low finish into the corner on 18 minutes. He remained at the heart of City’s attacking play, pulling strings across midfield, though Town stuck to their task with determination.

The decisive moment came with 16 minutes to go, Foden squeezing a pass into Savinho’s stride for the Brazilian to thunder a shot in off the underside of the bar. Town still refused to fold and came within inches of setting up a grandstand finish when Cameron Ashia bent a superb effort against the inside of the post, only for James Trafford to escape with his clean sheet intact on his return to the City side.

Manager proud but fans critical?

In his post-match interview, Huddersfield manager Lee Grant explained that he could not have asked for more from his players after the narrow defeat.

Grant said: "An incredible effort from the group. The work, and the level of discipline, and the persistence, to produce a performance like that shouldn’t go unnoticed. An incredible effort from the players. Collectively, the togetherness was top. The dedication to the game plan, the willingness to keep going, and be persistent with it, really really pleased and proud of the whole group.

Gordon Dyson (@DysonHTFC1712) posted on Twitter/X: “How can you attempt to compete when Wiles & Harness are quite frankly not up to the task of League 1 football never mind even attempting to get anywhere near that lot.”

Ben Gardner (@Bengardner99) was sightly more positive, he posted on the same platform: “Valiant effort when all said and done. Probably showed them a bit too much respect, but had some good spells and rare moments when we pressed.”