Mooy keeps calm as Huddersfield carries on
In-demand Australia midfielder Aaron Mooy converted his spot kick as Huddersfield beat Sheffield Wednesday 4-3 in a penalty shootout, to set up an EFL Championship play-off final against Reading.
Huddersfield Town secured a place in the EFL Championship play-off final against Reading with a 4-3 penalty shootout win over Sheffield Wednesday.
With the scores locked at 1-1 after extra time and an epic two-legged semi-final contest, Terriers goal-keeper Danny Ward produced two saves from the spot-kicks of Sam Hutchinson and Fernando Forestieri to earn Huddersfield a place in what is considered to be the most lucrative match in football.
Socceroos star Mooy, rumoured to be in the sights of Premier League clubs Newcastle United and Crystal Palace, played his part in the tense finale to an exhausting match, rifling his penalty into the top left corner to pile the pressure on a Wednesday team that also fell agonisingly short of promotion last season, losing the play-off final to Hull.
The Australian, on loan from Manchester City, will get another chance to impress when his side visits Wembley with the eyes of the world firmly fixed on which team will join Newcastle and Brighton and Hove Albion in football's most lucrative top flight.
The match:
Having drawn 0-0 at home in the first leg, Huddersfield fell behind 51 minutes into a tense return fixture at Hillsborough, Steven Fletcher heading home the opening goal of the all-Yorkshire tie.
Parity was soon restored, however, Tom Lees deflecting the ball into his own net as he attempted to block Nahki Wells's close-range effort.
Wells looked set to complete the comeback in second-half stoppage time, only to be denied by Keiren Westwood.
Ward matched Westwood's effort in extra-time, pulling off a fine save to prevent Jordan Rhodes putting Carlos Carvalhal's side ahead before Fernando Forestieri went close, while Wells found the side-netting at the other end.
Huddersfield's goalkeeper - on loan from Liverpool - stepped up to the mark in the resulting shootout, getting down to his left to keep out Sam Hutchinson's spot-kick to give the Terriers the advantage.
Jack Payne's miss handed the host a lifeline, but Ward made sure to spare his team-mate's blushes with a fine save from Forestieri's attempt, putting Huddersfield within one win of returning to England's top flight for the first time since 1972.
