Huddersfield boss Neil Warnock hailed Jack Rudoni as a ‘manager’s dream’ after the midfielder struck deep into stoppage-time to beat West Brom 2-1 and secure a first Sky Bet Championship win of the season.
Rudoni’s late strike ended Albion’s 100 per cent home record after John Swift’s had cancelled out Delano Burgzorg’s 33rd-minute opener for the visitors.
“It was nice to see Jack get on the scoresheet – him and Ben Wiles are manager’s dreams to work with,” said Warnock.
“Jack has got that in his locker, but not consistently at the moment and that’s what we’ve got to get him doing this season.
“Ben, Jack and Jonathan Hogg dictated the central area and we looked dangerous on the break.
“I’m so proud of the players – they couldn’t have given me any more.”
Warnock also singled out the efforts of Dutch forward Burgzorg, who scoring on his full debut following a loan move from German club Maine 05.
“Del took his opportunity because that goal was out of nothing really. He deserved the goal because he’d done so much work on his own,” Warnock said.
“He’s done really well and it’s hard for players coming in because the Championship is so physical.”
Warnock felt Huddersfield were good value for all three points after seeing Rudoni have an earlier goal disallowed.
“I thought we deserved it – I know they had a 10-minute spell when they scored but we had some great opportunities to have created better chances than we did,” the Terriers boss said.
“I didn’t see much wrong with the disallowed effort and I thought we kept plugging away, especially after they scored.
“They got the crowd behind them and you might have expected us to go under, but we defended well and broke well.
“I thought the subs did well and changed it again and gave a bit more and the fans were unbelievable and deserved that.
“We have been written off as relegation fodder, but we can go anywhere and get a result when we play like that.”
West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan was left to reflect on what might have been after substitute Josh Maja was denied by Huddersfield goalkeeper Lee Nicholls just before Rudoni’s dramatic late winner.
“We didn’t deserve to win because Huddersfield were better than us in many moments, they started better and were very competitive, which we knew they would be,” he said.
“I told the players it would be a real battle, especially in the middle of the pitch as they put a lot of physical players there – and the fact they hadn’t won a game beforehand made them more dangerous.
“Lee Nicholls won that game with the save he made, then we should have managed the next 40 seconds better.
“If we talk about the action before we conceded the second goal, we could have won because that was the one moment that could have made it 2-1.”
Harwood-Bellis 'didn't quite believe' first senior England call-up
Taylor Harwood-Bellis revealed he was in a state of disbelief when he was told about his first call-up to the England senior team last week.
Harwood-Bellis, along with Newcastle's Lewis Hall, received their maiden Three Lions call-ups in Lee Carsley's final squad as interim head coach.
The Southampton defender has impressed under Russell Martin this season, featuring in all of their Premier League fixtures so far this season.
Harwood-Bellis has won more aerial duels (13) for the Saints in the top-flight this term, with only Jan Bednarek (888) completing more passes than the 22-year-old (684).
He is also someone well known to the interim boss from his time in charge of England's Under-21's side, with his 21 appearances more than any other player during Carsley's tenure in the current Three Lions squad.
"Lee Carsley rang me in the morning and said, 'you'll be with us, with the seniors'. I didn't quite believe it at first," he told a press conference.
"My partner was next to me and I phoned my dad, who was very proud. He loves when I play for England, even the younger age groups.
"One of the first people to message me was Aaron Ramsdale. I was happy to see his name as he's one of my mates at the club."
Unfortunately for Harwood-Bellis, Ramsdale has since pulled out of the squad with a finger injury and has been replaced by Burnley's James Trafford.
England travel to Athens to take on Group B2 leaders Greece on Thursday before returning to Wembley three days later as they square off against the Republic of Ireland.
With a number of first-team regulars out through injury, Harwood-Bellis has the opportunity to become the first Saints player to represent England since Kyle Walker-Peters did so back in 2022.
The defender understood the potential ramifications of performing well for the Three Lions during this international break, with Thomas Tuchel taking over in the new year.
"It will be a big motivation for all of the lads, knowing that there's a new manager coming in and wanting to keep your spot," he said.
"That's something that especially the younger lads will be pushing towards.
"It's going to be difficult because of the quality and experience in some of the lads that aren't here is massive.
"It'll be difficult, but it'll be something that I'll focus on week in and week out for Southampton and if I get minutes here."
Chelsea quartet left at home as Bompastor rotates squad for Celtic clash
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has said that they will be without four key players ahead of their Champions League game away to Celtic on Wednesday.
Bompastor confirmed that Millie Bright, Mayra Ramirez, Sjoeke Nusken and Kadeisha Buchanan have not travelled to Scotland for their encounter at Celtic Park.
The Blues know a victory will seal their progression to the knockout stages, though have decided to rest a few of their key players during a hectic fixture schedule.
Their trip to Scotland will be the second of three matches inside seven days in all competitions for Bompastor's side and, as a result, she has decided to rotate her squad.
"The squad is in a good place and we have a good dynamic and we are full of confidence," she told a press conference
"We have been playing a lot of games and this week we play three games so it’s important to manage players as individuals.
“We have some players who didn’t travel for this game. Kadeisha Buchanan, Millie Bright, Sjoeke Nusken and Mayra Ramirez didn’t travel."
Chelsea come into the game with a 100% record in all competitions under Bompastor, including two wins from two against Real Madrid and Twente in the Champions League.
And they will be confident of maintaining their perfect run, having lost just one of their previous 20 group stage matches in the competition (W14 D5) and are unbeaten across their last 14 (W11 D3).
“As you know, Chelsea have a good squad with quality and a good team will start the game and be competitive because we want to finish first in this group," she said.
Their early-season form has them second in the Women's Super League and top of their Champions League group, at least three points ahead of any other team.
Despite resting players, Bompastor reassured people that it was Chelsea's ambition to fight on all fronts.
“The Champions League is important and we have ambition and we want to make sure we finish first in the group," she said.
“We have ambitions and if we want to go for all the competitions then you need to beat every team.
“It will start again in March and that’s when the really important games start, but right now we are focused on the group stage.”
Slegers maintains unbeaten Arsenal start with statement Juventus win
Renee Slegers claimed the biggest win of her time as Arsenal's interim head coach as they beat Juventus 4-0 in the Women's Champions League on Tuesday.
Since taking over from Jonas Eidevall, Slegers has led the Gunners to four wins from her five games at the helm, though their most recent result was their most impressive.
After seeing Alessia Russo and Emily Fox denied by smart stops from Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, the Gunners eventually made the breakthrough seven minutes from half-time.
A well-worked team move saw Caitlin Foord pick out Frida Maanum inside the box, with the Norwegian remaining calm and finishing into the far corner.
Fox again went close with an effort that crashed the crossbar, but Arsenal finally got their second when substitute Stina Blackstenius fired the ball home in the 75th minute.
Mariona Caldentey, another substitute made by Slegers, grabbed the Gunners' third before Foord sealed a statement win at the Stadio Comunale Vittorio Pozzo Lamarmora.
Heading into Tuesday's match, Arsenal were winless across their last three Champions League away matches (D1 L2), but were worthy winners in Italy this time around.
They accumulated an expected goals (xG) total of 2.5 from their 17 shots, compared to Juventus' 1.06 from their 12 attempts during the contest.
In the other early kick-off taking place on Tuesday, Barcelona romped to a comfortable 7-0 victory over St. Polten, helped by a flurry of goals at the end of the first half.
With the game level after half an hour, Ewa Pajor opened the scoring in the 32nd minute after turning home Ona Batlle's cross at Carina Schluter's front post.
Kika Nazareth then doubled Barca's advantage six minutes later before Pajor notched her second of the game after being picked out by Ballon d'Or Feminin winner Aitana Bonmati.
Keira Walsh then curled a wonderful effort into the far corner from the edge of the box as Claudia Pina concluded the 13-minute onslaught on the stroke of half-time.
Barca notched their sixth from the spot after Kamila Dubcova brought down Batlle, with Pina sending Schluter the wrong way, before Caroline Hansen completed the scoring to move her side onto six points in Group D.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
