Fulham 1-2 Huddersfield: Terriers stun league leaders at Craven Cottage to move up to fourth in the Championship, with Danny Ward and Duane Holmes both on target for Carlos Corberan’s side
- Fulham lost 2-1 at home to Huddersfield Town at Craven Cottage on Saturday
- Danny Ward and Duane Holmes put the Terriers two goals ahead in the first half
- Bobby De Cordova-Reid pulled one back late on but it wasn’t enough for Fulham
Huddersfield underlined their own promotion credentials with a win at Fulham that will have all the other contenders also believing anything is still possible.
First-half goals from Danny Ward and Duane Holmes – the latter from the penalty spot – proved to be just enough for the Terriers.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid pulled one back late on for Marco Silva’s side, who still boast a comfortable lead at the Championship summit.
Huddersfield Town’s Danny Ward netted the first of the afternoon to put the Terriers 1-0 up
Midfielder Duane Holmes then doubled the away sides advantage at Craven Cottage
Huddersfield celebrate their second goal as they boosted their promotion credentials
Huddersfield lived dangerously throughout but there was no doubt the day belonged to them.
It was also true that both of their goals required unfortunate deflections by Fulham players but Town’s defending at the other end, particularly by Tom Lees, meant they deserved those slices of luck.
Fulham began with a swagger in the expectation that they would soon score. De Cordova-Reid volleyed over, a ball across goal by Fabio Carvalho just eluded the sliding Aleksandar Mitrovic and there were other hairy moments as well.
There had been warning signs at the other end though, with a Ward tap-in correctly ruled out because Sorba Thomas had strayed offside.
And when Harry Toffolo’s ball in from the left bounced off Fulham captain Tom Cairney in the 31st minute Ward reacted swiftly to rifle a shot through home goalkeeper Marek Rodak.
Twelve minutes later Rodak was beaten again, this time from the penalty spot by Holmes. Fulham claimed the goalkeeper’s upending of Thomas had been nothing more than a routine collision but again a cross had initially been diverted towards the Fulham goal, this time by Nathaniel Chalobah.
Carvalho forced Town keeper Lee Nicholls into a diving save early in the second half but there were yet mor frustration for the home fans, who saw Neco Willams’ cross elude both Mitrovic and sub Neeskens Kebano in front of goal.
Fulham had their chances to but Huddersfield managed to get over the line to secure victory
Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic tried to help Fulham get back into the match on Saturday
Silva had been booked before that, for too much comment on an incident in the Town box that saw Kebano go down under Matty Pearson’s challenge.
Town skipper Jonathan Hogg – already booked – appeared to elbow Mitrovic in the face in the Huddersfield box soon after but again no action was taken.
Nicholls pulled off a fine save to keep out Mitrovic’s header but was given no chance in the 83rd minute by De Cordova-Reid, who controlled Williams ball into the box and lashed high into the net.
That provoked a furious Fulham finish, with keeper Rodak up for a barrage of set-pieces but Town survived a series of hairy moments to hang on.
Huddersfield’s Harry Toffolo celebrated the win after his side went fourth in the Championship