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.”
Leeds edge 'basketball game' at Swansea as Gnonto nets injury-time winner
Wilfried Gnonto's stoppage-time strike fired Leeds United to the Championship summit as they beat Swansea City 4-3 in a contest defender Joe Rodon compared to a basketball game.
Daniel Farke's team were twice forced to come from behind in South Wales as a Manor Solomon strike and a Ben Cabango own goal saw them respond to first-half efforts from Harry Darling and Liam Cullen.
Solomon's second put Leeds 3-2 up with 73 minutes gone, but Florian Bianchini's 90th-minute leveller looked set to keep them third in the table, behind Sunderland and Sheffield United.
However, substitute Gnonto tucked home following an assist from former Swansea winger Dan James, sending the travelling fans into raptures and securing Leeds' second straight victory.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Rodon – who began his career with Swansea – said: "It was like a basketball game! Credit to the boys.
"Every game we want to keep a clean sheet, but you know how it is in the Championship, and Swansea made it difficult for us."
Gnonto now has eight goal involvements in the Championship this season, scoring three and assisting five.
Only Norwich City's Borja Sainz (11 goals, two assists), Middlesbrough's Finn Azaz (five goals and seven assists) and West Brom's Josh Maja (10 goals, one assist) have more.
Cooper sacked by Leicester after winless run
Leicester City have dismissed manager Steve Cooper after a run of four Premier League games without a win.
Cooper, who previously managed Leicester's rivals Nottingham Forest, only took charge of the Foxes for 15 games in all competitions.
He was appointed in June, after Enzo Maresca left to join Chelsea following Leicester's promotion back to the Premier League.
After going six league games without a win at the start of the season, Cooper appeared to have steadied the ship with victories over Bournemouth and Southampton.
However, a winless streak of four top-flight matches, in which Leicester lost to Forest, Manchester United and Chelsea, while drawing with Ipswich Town, has seen Cooper lose his position.
In a statement released on Sunday, Leicester confirmed Cooper's assistants Alan Tate and Steve Rands had also left the club, with Ben Dawson set to take charge until a replacement is appointed.
Former Brighton and Chelsea boss Graham Potter was reportedly in talks to join Leicester prior to Cooper's appointment in the summer.
The Foxes are 16th in the Premier League on 10 points after 12 games.
Southampton 2-3 Liverpool: Salah brace sends Reds eight points clear
Liverpool went eight points clear at the top of the Premier League as they came from behind to seal a thrilling 3-2 victory over Southampton at St Mary's.
Two second-half goals from Mohamed Salah turned Sunday's game on its head after Mateus Fernandes had given bottom club Southampton a surprise 2-1 lead.
Dominik Szoboszlai had given Liverpool a 30th-minute lead by curling home via the far post after Flynn Downes' dreadful clearance landed at his feet inside the area.
However, the outstanding Tyler Dibling was felled by Andrew Robertson for a Southampton penalty on the stroke of half-time. Adam Armstrong's spot-kick was repelled by Caoimhin Kelleher, but the striker kept his nerve to tuck home the equaliser.
Armstrong then turned provider when Fernandes swept home Southampton's second in the 56th minute, but their lead would not last.
Salah cushioned a searching Ryan Gravenberch pass beyond a stranded Alex McCarthy for 2-2 in the 65th minute, then saw his inswinging cross handled by Southampton substitute Yukinari Sugawara seven minutes from time.
The Egyptian scored what proved to be the winner from the resulting penalty, and he almost got a hat-trick when he crashed a shot off the base of the post in the 88th minute.
Southampton remain bottom of the table, five points adrift of 17th-placed Wolves. Liverpool, meanwhile, are sitting pretty ahead of next week’s meeting with Manchester City, who were routed 4-0 by Tottenham on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Salah helps Slot into history books
Despite a lacklustre defensive performance, Liverpool earned their 10th victory in 12 Premier League games this season (one draw, one defeat), thanks primarily to Salah's quality in attack.
Salah has become the first Liverpool player to score in five successive Premier League games since the Egyptian himself did so in seven straight matches in October 2021.
His penalty, meanwhile, was his 100th goal away from Anfield for the Reds across all competitions.
Slot has now joined former Chelsea bosses Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti as the fastest managers to reach 10 Premier League wins upon their arrival in the division.
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