Leeds United 4 Huddersfield Town 1: Rampant Whites but Darren Moore in real danger — Yorkshire Post 28/10/23

An outstanding counter-attacking performance from Leeds United wrote off their midweek defeat as nothing more than the blip the Championship often throws up, but only magnified the pasting Huddersfield Town took.

By Stuart Rayner

This was another, far worse than the 4-1 scoreline made it look.

Darren Moore's job as Terriers manager is already looking in grave danger, and he is only seven games into it. Even for the man who masterminded one of football's great comebacks, eight goals in a week was a lot to come back from before he has been able to get any real terrace credit in the bank.

And in effect, they came from just 105 minutes, because like Cardiff City on Tuesday, Leeds declared very early in the non-contest, taking pity on their battered foe.

Shunting Neil Warnock aside in September was always going to be a hard sell and on this evidence it has spectacularly backfired.

Leeds will do this and worse to other, better, teams than Huddersfield but the level of unacceptability skyrockets when fans know the gloating they are going to have to face at work on a Monday morning.

Wingers Crysencio Summerville and Dan James – although in truth Summerville is rarely in much danger of getting chalk on his boots – were in electric form fully deserving of their two goals each. Summerville made both of James' too.

In all the gnashing of teeth this defeat will prompt in Huddersfield, the brilliance of the home side should not be overlooked. They lost at Stoke City on Wednesday but they are definitely genuine promotion contenders.

Derbies are supposed to be tight, cagey affairs, much like when both these sides faced bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Wednesday but this first-half was embarrassingly one-sided, Leeds running in four goals and the away fans taunting them for not getting more.

Huddersfield actually won the second half – not even consoling enough to class as a consolation – but only because hosts so rampant in the first half decided to err on the side of energy conservation and perhaps took on board Farke's comments after the win over Watford about not embarrassing. That ship had long since sailed, mind.

The Terriers at least threw themselves into tackles and blocks early on but with the ball constantly coming back at them - the hosts had 15 shots in the opening period alone – it was only a matter of time before they got in front and their deadliness on the counter-attack, especially when James and Summerville are in the line-up – makes them very hard to live with once they do.

Both teams had warnings in the first 20 minutes, though they turned out to be red herrings.

Huddersfield left Joel Piroe in far too much space at a corner – a fault that cost them goals at home to Cardiff – only to be saved by an offside flag. Delano Burgzorg hungry closing down of Ilan Meslier as he dallied on the ball was a warning to keep sharp.

But very soon the game was all about springing lightning attacks from deep.

James pushed the door open in the 20th minute, Huddersfield sending a throw into the Leeds penalty area which was cleared. Georginio Rutter hooked the ball to Summerville, who powered forward to find James keeping his composure and picking his spot.

And from there it ceased to be a contest.

Summerville made space for a shot in the 31st minute which Lee Nicholls was slow to react to, understandably fearful of a Michal Helik deflection before it got to him.

Two became three three minutes later, Summerville counter-attacking down the middle of the field and slipping in James.

Huddersfield's frustration was evident on the ankles of Leeds players, not least Ethan Ampadu, twice caught late by Jonathan Hogg, who was only booked for the first of them.

Sorba Thomas was carded for a petulant tackle, Brahima Diarra a shirt-pull to stop yet another counter-attack. Tom Lees went through James shortly after the restart.

That they ended the game with 11 men was a straw to clutch at, even if it was as wide as it was long.

Leeds were playing ole football at the end of the half when Rutter accelerated down the wing and picked out Summerville, who once more rearranged his feet to get the shot in and buried it.

Leeds could walk their way through the second half as Huddersfield brought on a fifth defender and did the only thing they really could do - park as many men as possible behind the ball. The Whites – like everyone just about else in the Football League – had already played twice in the last seven days, so it made no sense to force it.

Piroe shot wide, substitute Luke Ayling thumped a well-struck shot against a Huddersfield bod, but really there was no need.

Meslier will be annoyed with himself that he allowed a Thomas shot to bounce off him, Helik treading the borderline of offside to pounce and score his fourth goal of the season in the 70th minute.

The centre-back is Huddersfield's top scorer this season.

With no game in the midweek to come, Moore has a huge task on his hands to turn things around at Canalside. For Leeds, it is just about keeping the ball rolling.