Scott Parker warned his Fulham players that they must learn lessons after what looked like being a comfortable win turned into a narrow escape.
Bobby Decordova-Reid, Tom Cairney and Aleksandar Mitrovic put Fulham 3-0 ahead by the 31st minute only for Huddersfield to hit back through Emile Smith Rowe and Steve Mounié before the interval.
Fulham hung on to secure the three points that took them up to third place in the Championship but Parker was unhappy with the way the visitors had been allowed back into the match.
“First and foremost the result is key and I’m pleased with that,” he said. “But take your foot off the pedal and take liberties, or go against what has got you 3-0 up, and it can come back to bite you. We dropped our intensity and it felt as if the game had become too easy for us.
“At 3-0, they looked dejected and we should have put them to the sword by carrying on doing what has got us there, so I was disappointed in that.
“For 31 minutes I thought we were sensational. But the bits in between were poor and I didn’t like us one bit. If you see out the game there is some positive there but we are a young team and we need to learn from today.
“One positive was that we did hang on. Earlier in the season that might have ended in a draw.
“One thing that has been levelled against this team is that we are a bit soft and struggle to hold on to games. The keeper [Marek Rodak] had nothing to do in the first-half but pick the ball out of the net twice, but he showed composure and pulled out some good saves for us.”
Fulham took the lead after 10 minutes when Decordova-Reid cut in from the left, sidestepped Richard Stearman and fired past Joel Coleman.
Cairney doubled the home side’s advantage five minutes later with a neat flick and volley from Cyrus Christie’s low cross before Mitrovic scored his 19th league goal of the season to seemingly put the game to bed.
Huddersfield reduced the arrears after 35 minutes when Smith Rowe pounced on a diverted free-kick from Juninho Bacuna and it was 3-2 four minutes later as Smith Rowe crossed for Mounié to bundle home at the far post.
Huddersfield pushed for an equaliser in the second half with Rodak saving well from Karlan Grant on three occasions while Fraizer Campbell and Elias Kachunga went close in a frantic finale.
The Huddersfield manager, Danny Cowley, felt his players had reacted well to a difficult situation. He said: “We started well but they scored from their first attack. Then they scored with their second and third attacks and you are shell-shocked.
“At 3-0 down to a Fulham in free-flow you can easily go under and we didn’t. I thought we were resolute and showed determination and grit.
“I like to see players when they face adversity and their backs are against the wall. I was pleased with what I saw and that gives me confidence and trust in them going forward.
“Today was probably our best performance with the ball.”
