After a goalless first half – in which Terriers skipper Tommy Smith was dismissed for a wild challenge on Almirón – Salomón Rondón and Ayoze Pérez struck within five minutes of one another to fire Rafa Benítez’s side to a significant victory.
The Paraguayan international was a thorn in Huddersfield’s side throughout, however, clipping the woodwork just 12 minutes into his full debut after a flowing Magpies move before calling ‘keeper Jonas Lössl into action on a string of occasions either side of the interval.
And Yedlin – who, like Almirón, arrived in England from the MLS – is confident United supporters can look forward to seeing more of the same from the 25-year-old between now and the end of the campaign.
“I knew what type of player he was before he came here, and it didn’t surprise me what I saw today,” he told nufc.co.uk. “He’s a great player. He’s skilful on the ball, he’s quick and he’s creative. He did very well for us today and I’m sure he’ll do very well for us in future.
“I think we created chances. When the other team go down to ten men, in some ways it becomes easier and in some ways it becomes harder, because they tend to sit in a bit more and it’s a bit harder to penetrate. But credit to all the lads today – everybody was on their game and everybody put in a good shift.
“We wanted to get off to a fast start in the second half, because the longer the game goes – especially when they’re down to ten men – the more belief they get and the harder it will be. It was the perfect time for a goal. It got the crowd up on their feet and from that point on they had to push at us and it was a little bit easier to play and get in behind. Like I said, credit to all the lads – everybody did well.”
Victory moved the Magpies four points clear of the Premier League’s bottom three, with Sean Dyche’s Burnley – 2-1 winners over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday – set to visit St. James’ Park on Tuesday evening.
Since a narrow defeat to Chelsea on 12th January, United have picked up ten points out of a possible 15 in the top flight, and Yedlin believes they are starting to find their mojo at just the right time.
“Today’s win is probably one of the most important of the season because it brings us away from the bottom of the table a bit,” he said. “Obviously there are still games left to play but it gives us a little bit of a cushion. We have another big game coming up on Tuesday, and if we can get three points there we’ll be in a good position.
“It was a bit of the same last season, where about this time we started picking up a bit and started putting some wins together. I don’t know why but we always seem to come into form around this time of year. I guess that’s a good thing and hopefully we can just keep it going.”
