Heroic Huddersfield end United’s unbeaten run

Jose Mourinho’s men came into the clash hoping to put their heavily criticised defensive showing at Liverpool behind them and close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City.

They were, however, shocked as Aaron Mooy and Laurent Depoitre punished poor defensive mistakes to put Huddersfield two goals up in the first period.

United did pull one back through half-time substitute Rashford, but it wasn’t enough as a spirited Terriers side held on to claim all three points.

The first chance of the match fell to a goal-shy Lukaku, who fired straight at Jonas Lossl after being played in over the top by Matic.

Huddersfield hosts took a surprise lead after Mata was pipped in midfield by Mooy just before the half-hour mark. The Australia international drove towards the United box before playing through Thomas Ince on the left of the box. After twisting and turning he saw shot well saved by De Gea, but the rebound fell to Mooy and he expertly finished from ten yards.

The home crowd did not have to wait long for the second, which came on 34 minutes when Lindeloef, who had just come on for the injured Jones, failed to deal with a hopeful high ball. Depoitre was there to take advantage as he rounded De Gea before calmly slotting home.

A shellshocked United piled on the pressure in the final minutes of the first period and came close to equalising following a corner. Lingard whipped in a dangerous delivery that bounced out to Matic, but his goal-bound strike was deflected wide.

Following the restart, it was clear that Huddersfield’s gameplan was to keep United out and shut up shop.

As the game entered its closing stages, Lossl made a vital save to keep out Herrera, who rose highest to flick on a Young cross before United finally found a way back into the game.

With 12 minutes to play, Lukaku did incredibly well on the right to deliver a deep cross towards the far post, which Rashford got on the end of to power a header past Lossl.

United proceeded to throw everything forward in search of an equaliser, but failed to create a clear-cut chance in the dying minutes. The best opportunity they had came two minutes into stoppage time when Valencia’s blocked cross fell to Smalling at the far post. He took a touch and shot, but Zanka heroically threw his body in the way to make the match-saving block.

Huddersfield held on to earn a famous win, while United lost their unbeaten run and slipped further behind rivals Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title.