A game of two halves turned into the same old story as Huddersfield Town fell to a 4-2 defeat to Brentford in West London .
Down by three at half time, Town looked as if they might be on the comeback charge after a well-taken goal from Joe Lolley inside 60 seconds of the restart.
Although a harsh penalty against Ben Chilwell swung momentum back in favour of the hosts, the Terriers still had the chances to cause some panic in the ranks - b ut a lack of killer instinct in front of goal again harmed aspirations of taking points.
Attacking shortcomings
Both sides had 11 shots, but the Bees had eight on target compared to Huddersfield's four, meaning it was no real surprise to see them double Town's goal tally as well.
None of those shots, on target or otherwise, came in a first half that was thoroughly dominated by the hosts.
Selected to start after making a decent impact from the bench against Rotherham in midweek, Opta stats show Ishmael Miller made 13 passes, had no shots, made no tackles and won no fouls during his 45 minutes on the pitch.
Ploughing an increasingly isolated furrow up front with his teammates struggling to get in support, the striker had five duels with his opposing defences and lost all of them.
Half time changes
Nahki Wells replaced him at the break and although he made only seven passes, he had a big influence on the game and took three shots, won three of his duels, grabbed one assist and created one further goalscoring chance.
Man of the Match Kyle Dempsey , another half time change, created two from midfield and thoroughly deserved his stoppage time goal.
Wing play stunted
The full backs had a busy day, as Brentford repeatedly tried to get in behind the defence on the wings. Per WhoScored, 79% of the home side's attacks came down the sides and wingers were often forced into defensive duties.
In fact, Muzzy Carayol had an industrious afternoon, making seven tackles - by some way the highest of anyone in either side. Ben Chilwell and Martin Crainie in joint second place each made three.
It limited Town's own effectiveness in going forward using the full width of the pitch but when they did get there the final ball too often went astray. The Terriers attempted a total of 20 crosses during the course of the afternoon, and none found their target.
Brentford on the defensive
Interestingly, possession over the 90 minutes was fairly equal with Town having enjoyed 50.4% of the ball by the time the full time whistle blew.
Although they struggled to test Button in the Bees net often enough, the Terriers came on much more strongly in the second period - although after the wretched first 45 that will have been of scant consolation to many fans.
By the end, Brentford had made 15 clearances to Town's 14 and conceded 12 fouls compared with 11 from those in yellow and were it not for the penalty the hosts may have been forced even further on to the back foot.
Lack of firepower in the opposition's penalty area is nothing new, but a slow start is also starting to become a worrying trend. If Town can play for 90 minutes as they did for the second 45 against Brentford, Boxing Day may have a happier ending.
