Huddersfield Town have defeated Reading on penalties after a goalless Championship playoff final to end their 45-year wait for a return to the top tier of English football.
For the first time in second-tier history, the 90 minutes ended goalless and penalties were required to separate the two sides following a cagey affair.
The Terriers, who squandered the two major chances of the match early on, held their nerve to win the shootout 4-3 and earn promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history.
Reading are left to rue what could have been, meanwhile, falling short in the playoffs for a joint-record fifth time after what was a nervy performance over the 120 minutes from both sides.
Huddersfield created their two killer chances of a tight match in the opening 15 minutes, neither of which they could make the most of.
Aaron Mooy floated a free kick into a good position for Michael Hefele to attack, but he somehow nodded wide from close range after getting the beating of Joey van den Berg.
There was an even better opening to come the Terriers’ way moments later, as Elias Kachunga flashed the ball across goal where Izzy Brown was waiting for what looked like a simple tap-in.
Huddersfield won 22 of their 25 regular-season fixtures by a one-goal margin and still held out hope of snatching the match at the death in front of the 76,682 spectators at Wembley Stadium.
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