Huddersfield stun leaders Brighton to boost promotion hopes

Huddersfield Town displayed their promotion credentials with a 3-1 victory against the Championship leaders, Brighton & Hove Albion.

David Wagner’s side blew away the visitors in the first half, with Tommy Smith, Nahki Wells and Elias Kachunga all on target.

Tomer Hemed had equalised for Brighton but Chris Hughton’s side were second best throughout and ended the game with 10 men following Lewis Dunk’s 67th-minute dismissal.

Huddersfield dominated from the off, with the loanee Isaiah Brown testing David Stockdale and Rajiv van La Parra hitting the goalkeeper’s right post in the opening six minutes.

The hosts made the breakthrough in the ninth minute when Van La Parra played in Smith down the right and the right-back cut inside before drilling a shot past Stockdale at his near post. The lead lasted only 11 minutes as Aaron Mooy’s poor header sent Hemed clean through on goal and he sidestepped Danny Ward with ease before slotting into an empty net.

However, Town continued to control the game and a fine block from Dunk prevented Van La Parra in the 22nd minute, and the Huddersfield forward then tested Stockdale with a well-struck effort from the edge of the area.

Stockdale could do nothing about Wells’s 36th-minute goal, though, as the striker was played in down the right before lashing in his third goal in five games.

Brighton had the ball in the net in first-half stoppage time but Glenn Murray was offside as he headed home following Oliver Norwood’s free-kick, and less than a minute later Huddersfield were two goals ahead.

The visitors failed to clear on a couple of opportunities before Wells’s cross was parried by Stockdale straight to Kachunga, who fired home his 10th of the season.

Things did not improve for Brighton after the break, with Stockdale called on to deny Van La Parra once again before Wells shot wide when well placed.

Any hopes of a Brighton fightback were dashed with 23 minutes left when Dunk was shown his second yellow card of the contest for a foul on Brown, who was forced off through injury following the challenge.

Still Huddersfield pressed and the frame of the goal denied them for a second time when Mooy’s 25-yard effort came back off a post. However, Brighton avoided any further damage as the leaders failed to pull away from second-placed Newcastle United. The gap at the top remained at one point, with Huddersfield seven points behind second-placed Newcastle after a third win in four league games.