Huddersfield Town have recorded back-to-back home wins in the top flight for the first time since November 1971 courtesy of a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at the John Smith's Stadium this evening.
The Terriers took the lead through a memorable Rajiv van La Parra strike right on the stroke of half time, but were forced to play the majority of the second half with 10 men after Christopher Schindler was sent off.
David Wagner's side held out to claim a third home league win of the season, though, lifting them into the top half of the Premier League table in the process.
© Offside
It took until the 17th minute for either goalkeeper to have a save to make following a slow start to the game, when Tom Ince's curling 20-yard effort was comfortably kept out by Ben Foster.
Schindler was then needed at the other end to deny Jay Rodriguez when the West Brom striker was almost through on goal, but the German picked up his first yellow card shortly afterwards for a cynical foul on Hal Robson-Kanu.
What few first-half chances there were fell the way of the home side, and the best of the lot arrived shortly after the half-hour mark when Ince blazed an effort over the crossbar after the ball had fallen kindly for him.
Ince continued to look the most likely and forced another stop from Foster shortly afterwards, but it was Van La Parra who eventually broke the deadlock right on the stroke of half time.
The winger did so in some style too, collecting a short pass from Scott Malone before curling a stunning 25-yard strike into the top corner to leave Foster no chance.
It was a moment of quality which didn't quite befit the rest of the first half, but within 12 minutes of the restart Huddersfield found themselves with their backs to the wall again when they were reduced to 10 men.
© Offside
Schindler's mistimed challenge in midfield earned him a second yellow card, with referee Roger East not hesitating to give the Huddersfield player his marching orders.
West Brom set about looking to make their man advantage count, but it wasn't until the 73rd minute that they came close to doing so when Salomon Rondon nodded a Rodriguez cross narrowly wide of the target.
It took until the start of six minutes stoppage time for the Baggies to really pile the pressure on Huddersfield, though, and the hosts had Jonas Lossl to thank for keeping them ahead as the goalkeeper made two stunning saves to deny James McClean and then Matty Phillips in quick succession.
That proved to be enough to keep West Brom at bay as the Baggies were condemned to a ninth consecutive match without a win in the Premier League, leaving them 15th in the table and still just two points clear of the relegation zone.
Huddersfield, by contrast, have now picked up 11 points in front of their own fans already this season - including back-to-back wins over Manchester United and West Brom - to leave them 10th in the table and seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Barney Corkhill
