Huddersfield interim boss Jon Worthington insists his side’s “committed performance” earned the Terriers a 1-0 victory over Sunderland at the John Smith’s Stadium.
The all-important moment came in the 38th minute when Jack Rudoni’s free-kick was beaten away by Anthony Patterson, only for Matty Pearson to bundle in the rebound to make it 1-0.
Huddersfield had chances to put the game to bed when Josh Koroma hit the near post from a free-kick before Rudoni’s glancing header was cleared off the line by Jobe Bellingham.
The Terriers were almost punished for those missed chances, but goalkeeper Lee Nicholls fantastically denied Trai Hume at the death before stopping Tom Lees’ from putting into his own net.
Worthington thought his side backed up a good performance in their 5-3 defeat to Southampton at the weekend with all three points.
He said: “Another game I really enjoyed – a committed performance from the lads. We had to go again from Saturday’s performance, in terms of the result, and I was happy with the desire the lads showed.
“I think it was a real squad effort to make sure we all dug in together to get over the line and the result.
“From the first minute we were on the front foot, wanting to run forward and support each other. ”
Pearson, operating at right-back instead of his usual position in central defence, scored his third goal of the season with the winner in the 38th minute.
It was his second goal in the last three games to help Huddersfield move five points away from the relegation zone.
And Worthington was quick to praise the all-round performance of the match-winner.
He added: “I know he will definitely run for me and do anything I ask of him. I was delighted for him today, that was an individual duel I was talking about.
“He puts his head and body in where others probably don’t and that’s a rarity when you’re brave like, and that brings you goals.”
Sunderland slipped to their seventh away league defeat of the season and missed the chance to climb back into the play-off places.
Boss Michael Beale thought his side wasted opportunities to claim points from the game and was unhappy to see his side lose from a set-piece.
He said: “To concede off a set-piece away from home is not good enough is it?
“It’s a pretty standard set-piece we’ve conceded from before half-time. We had our moments, but it’s a bad night.
“It’s a disappointing night. I thought Huddersfield made it a physical game and there was a point in the first half when we needed to roll our sleeves up and give a bit back, and I’m not sure we did that.
“On our best day we are slightly better than teams in this league, but I don’t think we are going to blow anyone away. We don’t score enough goals to blow teams away.”
Vardy eyes 100-point season after Leicester's title win
Jamie Vardy has challenged his Leicester City team-mates to reach 100 points after sealing the Championship title with one game to spare.
The Foxes were promoted back to the Premier League without kicking a ball after Leeds United’s 4-0 defeat to QPR on Friday, but they needed to win on Monday to earn top spot.
Enzo Maresca’s side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Preston through Vardy’s brace and Kasey McAteer’s header, moving them to 97 points.
With one last milestone in their reach, Vardy wants to make sure they end an already successful season on a high.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We can celebrate it tonight, but now we have another target which is 100 points.
“We are over the moon. It has gone by quick but it's a graft. Not many days off, I'll tell you that.
“The lads - they've given it all. Thoroughly deserved, and I'm glad we've had 5000 to come and celebrate with us. It's not like it's 20 minutes up the road."
After a run of just three victories from nine games in the league between mid-February and April, Leicester have now won each of their last three outings.
Maresca has praised his players for their hard work in what he labelled a “tough season”.
“Fantastic, it's been a fantastic season. The Championship is a tough season and very intense, but I'm very happy," said Maresca.
"Now it's time to enjoy the work of the season to bring this special club back to the Premier League. We deserve it.
“The last two days they have been fantastic. We got promoted, but it was difficult in game preparation. But we used all of today to prepare for the game, the morning and afternoon. It was good.”
Barcelona 4-2 Valencia: Lewandowski hat-trick leads Barca to 4-2 win over 10-man Valencia
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored a second-half hat-trick to help his side fight back to claim a hard-fought 4-2 win over Valencia, who were leading 2-1 when they were reduced to 10 men just before the break.
Fermin Lopez's header from a Raphinha cross put Barca in front after 22 minutes, but Valencia's Hugo Duro struck in the 27th and Pepelu scored from the spot after a foul by Ronald Araujo 11 minutes later to give the visitors the lead.
But after Valencia keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili saw red for a handball outside the box before the break, Xavi's side dominated and Lewandowski scored with two headers from corners in the 49th and 82nd minutes before getting his treble with a free-kick in added time.
The win postponed Real Madrid's almost inevitable LaLiga title celebrations for a couple of weeks as Carlo Ancelotti's side sit atop the standings on 84 points.
Barcelona moved back to second in LaLiga on Monday with 73 points as they leapfrogged surprise package Girona, who are third with 71. Those two teams will meet in a Catalonia derby on Saturday.
Data debrief
Barcelona conceded two goals in the first half of a home game for the second time this season, after also doing so against Girona in LaLiga in December 2023.
However, Lewandowski's goals have been invaluable to La Blaugrana this season as he's earned 17 points with his 16 goals in the league.
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
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