Huddersfield Town 1-4 West Bromwich Albion: Baggies score four second-half goals

Mikey Johnston scored twice and Okay Yokuslu netted a long-range thunderbolt in a superb West Bromwich Albion comeback victory at relegation-threatened Huddersfield Town.

But fifth-placed Albion, far from their best during a first half in which they did not have an attempt on goal, returned from the interval a team transformed.

They levelled when Andreas Weimann crossed low for on-loan Celtic winger Johnston to tap home from close range, before Kyle Bartley poked in after a scramble in the six-yard box to put Albion in front.

Turkey midfielder Yokuslu drilled in powerfully from 25 yards to make it 3-1 and Johnston slipped the ball underneath Lee Nicholls to score his sixth goal in his past seven appearances.

It was the first time Albion had scored four times in a single half since a 5-2 home win against Hull City in August 2022.

The second-half fightback ensured a happy return to Huddersfield for Albion head coach Carlos Corberan, who took a team to the John Smith’s Stadium for the first time since he left his role as Terriers boss in July 2022 – six weeks after they had been beaten by Nottingham Forest in the Championship play-off final.

With nine games remaining, Albion are unlikely to catch any of the teams above them in the Championship – fourth-placed Southampton are 10 points ahead with a game in hand on the Baggies.

However, they are five points clear of seventh-placed Hull and in a good position to clinch a play-off spot.

At the other end of the Championship, it could hardly be closer after the latest round of fixtures in the second tier.

Third-from-bottom Huddersfield remain a point from safety, although the Terriers and 12th-placed Sunderland are separated by only nine points.

Huddersfield boss Andre Breitenreiter told BBC Radio Leeds: “We had a fantastic first half. We had a lot of ball in the final zone and the last pass was missing for a second or third goal. We absolutely deserved the lead.

“We had a really good atmosphere in the dressing room at half-time and we knew we had to do the same as in the first half because if you are a passive against a strong opposition it is difficult.

“We wanted to do the same in the second half with pressing in their half and making pressure. They changed their formation a little bit but we didn’t change our principles.

“The first two goals were unlucky. When you are at the bottom of the table things like this happen.

“We have to defend better in our own penalty area. We always have the opportunity to score goals but if you always need three or four goals it isn’t easy to win.”

West Brom manager Carlos Corberan told BBC WM:

“I told them at half-time that we needed to have more mentality, be more aggressive, win more second balls to increase our competitive aspect.

“The second part was to increase our understanding of the game. We always try to use the games to improve and to increase our understanding of the game.

“One thing is to understand the things and the other is to do the things. Today has been a good second half.”