Huddersfield Town 1-0 Aston Villa

Promotion-chasing Huddersfield Town claimed a hard-fought victory over Aston Villa in a tight contest.

Villa had the best openings in the first half, with Conor Hourihane firing over from six yards out and Henri Lansbury hitting the bar from 18 yards.

But the Terriers took the lead when Tommy Smith fired in a low shot from Aaron Mooy's corner.

James Chester headed over from Lansbury's free-kick as Town, who remain third, comfortably held out.

Villa came into the game off the back of three consecutive wins and started well, with James Bree forcing a good low save from Joel Coleman.

Hourihane should have scored when played in by Jonathan Kodjia, while Lansbury was unlucky to see his strike come back off an upright.

Town improved after the break but had not forced Villa goalkeeper Sam Johnstone into a save before Smith's low effort flew across the box and into the bottom corner.

A tired Villa pushed for an equaliser in the dying minutes but never really threatened to rescue a point.

Huddersfield manager David Wagner: "It was important that we made a statement after the defeat against Newcastle and we did that.

"It is my job to improve players, but there is a lot more to come from them and I want them to become better still. They are greedy and hungry to learn and that is what I like."

"It was not possible to play football on the pitch and we had to go more direct and it's great that the players can adapt to what they need to do. It's a great three points for us against a very aggressive and strong opponent."

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce: "I can't fault the endeavour and effort of the players and because of that we should have won the game.

"We looked a very decent team and deserved more for that display. Our Achilles heel was that we didn't take our chances.

"We had some big opportunities and we thought we had calmed the storm and were looking comfortable. Unfortunately, we lost our concentration and conceded the goal. It was a training ground routine and we knew all about it - we should have defended it better."