Huddersfield Town were left frustrated by 10-man Stoke City, who held them to a 1-1 draw at the John Smithâs Stadium this afternoon. Â
Pipa opened the scoring for Huddersfield (5), with Steven Fletcherâs penalty (24) pegging Carlos Corberanâs side back.
Rhys Norrington-Davies saw red on 45 minutes but Michael OâNeill will have been delighted with the Pottersâ second-half defensive effort, despite their winless run extending.
Lady luck wasnât with Huddersfield in Bristol midweek, but it certainly was in the opening exchanges this afternoon.
A bright start was rewarded on five minutes as Isaac Mbenza and Pipa benefitted from James Chesterâs half-clearance: the latterâs deflected effort beyond Angus Gunn.
With a spring in their step, Corberanâs side bossed the key exchanges afterwards. A succession of corners resulted in Naby Sarr heading wide, with OâNeillâs visitors on the ropes.
Richard Keoghâs slack pass on 21 minutes almost gave Stoke an easy way back into the game, but Alex Vallejo dug Jack Clarkeâs cross out of the six-yard box.
Fraizer Campbell would head Harry Toffoloâs cross wide moments later. However, a frantic passage of play would result in a Stoke equaliser eventually.
Clarkeâs positive running saw him burst into the area and, as he checked back across Sarr, the centre-back brought him down: little hesitation from Gavin Ward to point to the spot. Fletcher buried the resulting penalty beyond Ryan Schofield for parity.
Sarr blocked Clarkeâs shot and Schofield was forced to turn Jordan Thompsonâs corner over his crossbar, with Stoke enjoying the better spell as we motored into half-time.
However, a strong Norrington-Davies challenge on Juninho Bacuna, right on the stroke of half-time, resulted in a red card; Ward, again, without hesitation making a big decision.
Naturally, Stoke looked to slow play down, win fouls and keep themselves in the game after the break. The task for Huddersfield was to break OâNeillâs side down and the opening five minutes of the second-half proved to be irritating.
Vallejo was off-target on 52 minutes after Huddersfield worked him a shooting position on the edge of the penalty area and, minutes later, Bacuna was scuffing into the arms of Gunn.
Heading towards the hour, Pipaâs penalty appeals were turned away after Clarke dangled a leg his way. Again, Ward looking to have made the right call.
Lewis OâBrien then clipped Toffoloâs cross onto the frame of Gunnâs goal as Huddersfield looked for the breakthrough their dominance was deserving of.
James McClean brilliantly headed Bacunaâs curling shot off the line on 64 minutes, with Huddersfield finding obstacles to overcome even after they had beaten Gunn.
Huddersfield frustrations were evident in Bacunaâs wild shot on 69 minutes.
Vallejoâs shot was blocked by Chester and Toffolo became the latest Huddersfield player to find the empty seats behind Gunnâs goal.
Campbellâs late penalty appeals were waved away and Pipa rifled a left-footed shot wide. However, the visitors were reasonably comfortable as four minutes of injury time ticked by.
A chance missed for the Terriers, then, with Corberanâs side signing off January without a win.
Itâs a similar story for Stoke, whose last win was on December 19th. However, thereâs no denying that, given the hand they were dealt at half-time, they will be the happier of these two sides struggling for form.
FT: Huddersfield Town 1-1 Stoke City.