Huddersfield Town 1, Brentford 1
Lewis O’Brien scored as Huddersfield Town drew 1-1 with promotion hopefuls Brentford to remain unbeaten for a fifth game.
O’Brien opened the scoring early on but refereeing inconsistency saw Mads Bech Sorensen’s equaliser only come in the 49th minute while Ivan Toney hit the post before Town had a penalty shout for a foul on O’Brien turned down.
Town had created little but battled hard to prevent their visitors from scoring the second goal they needed to win the game in a manic finish.
The draw was enough to take Town above Derby County into 18th place – 8 points clear of Rotherham in the final relegation spot while the Bees moved into third place above Swansea City but 9 points below Watford in second place.
The Terriers were well worth their draw after battling hard against the Bees in a game which was preceded by a minute of silence to pay respects to Frank Worthington and Derek Hawksworth.
With several Town players returning to training, the injury situation was looking more positive despite a groin injury blow to new signing Oumar Niasse which would rule him out with the Terriers sitting 7 points clear of the dropzone with games in hand on teams around them.
Even so, Terriers boss Carlos Corberan made only two changes from the side that drew against Sheffield Wednseday – Rarmani Edmonds-Green and Juninho Bacuna were rotated out of the side in favour of Alex Vallejo and Yaya Sanogo.
Brentford were still chasing automatic promotion but were comfortably in the play-off zone.
And the Bees could have found themselves with a great chance to score within 5 minutes but Sergi Canos was penalised for an infringement after robbing Demeaco Duhaney with Ivan Toney waiting for a square ball.
And Town opened the scoring after 7 minutes when Lewis O’Brien pounced on the loose ball, after Yaya Sanogo pressed the Brentford defender Mads Roerslev into a mistake, and picked his spot to score his 3rd goal of the season.
Duhaney recovered from his earlier mistake and blocked a long ball into the Town half which Canos tried to win with a foul with Town defending well with a little bit of good fortune on their side at times – Naby Sarr evaded a handball shout while attempting to chest a long ball into the area away.
The Terriers were forced into an early change after Alex Vallejo could not continue following an early clash of heads – and he was replaced by Bacuna after just 23 minutes.
Schofield had earlier saved from Vitaly Janelt after Canos had picked him out but he was relieved to see Christian Norgaard blaze a long range shot over the bar as the visitors started to take control of the game.
Frustrations were rising for Brentford as Town were up for the fight, pressing the visitors hard throughout the first half
Bryan Mbeumo twice failed to connect with late chances – Ivan Toney’s flick on from a set piece and Norgaard’s cross – as Town successfully navigated a tough first half.
Brentford equalise through Mads Bech Sorensen and Ivan Toney hits the post but Huddersfield Town deny them a winner
Sarr cleared off the line from a Saman Ghoddos corner but Town couldn’t clear the threat and Mads Bech Sorensen turned in Brentford’s second ball into the area despite a suspicion of handball in the buildup by Pontus Jansson.
Toney hit the back post with a fierce shot a minute later as Brentford piled on the pressure immediately.
Juninho Bacuna fired a free kick over the crossbar for Town who looked to make changes.
Aaron Rowe and Richard Stearman came on after an hour – replacing Pipa and Duane Holmes while Brentford responded by bringing off Janelt for Mathias Jensen.
And Town were denied a penalty after O’Brien was clipped by a clumsy challenge by Ghoddos.
The Terriers were winning plenty of dangerous set pieces as they played their part in the second half after conceding the equaliser.
Brentford made a double change, bringing on Tarique Fosu and Emiliano Marcondes for Canos and Ghoddos with 18 minutes to go as Mbeumo sent a couple of chances wide.
Duhaney skipped inside and forced David Raya to make a snap save low to his right as Town finished strongly.
Mbeumo’s blatant dive in the box was ignored by the referee while Toney forced a great save from Schofield as the Bees became more desperate.
Mbeumo earned a free kick which Town repelled before the midfielder with withdrawn for striker Marcus Forss while Danny Ward replaced Fraizer Campbell.
Mathias Jensen’s free kick whipped past everyone in the Town box as Brentford continued to waste chances to win – Toney had a shot blocked while Norgaard shot wide in the last 4 minutes.
Hogg conceded a foul 40 yards as the Bees flooded forward but Schofield gratefully fell on top of the free kick as it was floated in and Town saw out a nervy finish under immense pressure for the home side to earn a point.
GOALS – Huddersfield Town 1, Brentford 1
Huddersfield Town 1, Brentford 0: 7. Lewis O’Brien had plenty of time to pick his spot from outside the area after Yaya Sanogo had pressed Christian Norgaard into a mistake to lose the ball
Huddersfield Town 1, Brentford 1: 49. Mads Bech Sorensen turned in a second ball into the Town area after Naby Sarr had cleared off the line.
MATCH STATS – Huddersfield Town 1, Brentford 1
Huddersfield Town: Schofield, Duhaney, Keogh, Sarr, Pipa (Stearman 59), Hogg, Vallejo (Bacuna 23 Concussion Sub), O’Brien, Holmes (Rowe 59), Campbell (Ward 81), Sanogo
Huddersfield Town subs not used: Pereira, Mbenza, Thomas, Edmonds-Green, High
Booking: Holmes 56 (foul on Mads Bech Sorensen); Hogg 88 (foul on Tarique Fosu); Schofield 90+3 (time wasting); O’Brien 90+5 (kicking the ball away)
Goal: O’Brien 7
Brentford: Raya, Roerslev, Jansson, Pinnock, Sorensen, Ghoddos (Fosu 73), Norgaard, Janelt (Jensen 62), Mbueno (Forss 81), Canos (Emiliano 73), Toney
Brentford subs not used: Daniels. Goode, Reid, Zamburek, Bidstrup
Booking: Mbeumo 66 (foul on Lewis O’Brien)
Goal: Sorensen 49
Referee: Oliver Langford