Newly promoted Hull City shocked everyone with an opening day 2-1 win over the Champions Leiecester City.
Well who would’ve expected that? I think if you had asked 99% of football fans, Hull City supporters included, they would’ve said Leicester would not only beat Hull but destroy them in the process. Instead it was almost the opposite! As we saw with Leicester City last year, sometimes you don’t need the best players in the world to win, sometimes you just need the fighting spirit, the togetherness and camaraderie among players, even just the belief in your manager, and you will succeed. Hull City had all of these things in Saturday’s opening match against Leicester and as a result grabbed a surprise victory.
The Tigers scored two fantastic goals in the match, one in the first half from Adama Diomande, a bicycle kick off of a corner kick and then one in the second from a fantastic and thumping left footed strike from Robert Snodgrass. These two fantastic goals cancelled out Riyad Mahrez‘ penalty that may not have even deserved to have been a penalty as contact seemingly began outside of the box.
Leicester City really missed a couple of key figures. It was always going to be tough for them to replicate what they accomplished last season, but nobody expected them to go down on opening day to Hull. Robert Huth, a natural leader and experienced Premier League defender was a big miss for the Foxes, while Shinji Okazaki should have always earned a place in the side ahead of Ahmed Musa from the start. Musa doesn’t look fit for the Premier League at all, or at least not fit enough to cost 13 million pounds! Only time will tell if the Nigerian forward is the right man to help Leicester reach the next level, but I’m not convinced at all at the moment. Obviously the biggest miss of all was N’Golo Kante. The Frenchman won back possession virtually every time Leicester lost it last season and that kind of presence, who is able to dominate the midfield in that sort of way was absolutely nowhere to be seen on Saturday morning.
Hull on the other hand were very organized and very well-prepared for this match. Despite having a couple of key members out injured, they brushed off the criticism about their pre-season antics and fought hard to earn themselves a deserved 2-1 victory. Curtis Davies was brilliant at the back, while Robert Snodgrass, Adama Diomande and Abel Hernandez were constant threats going forward throughout the game beyond their fantastic strikes. The man who definitely earns the most credit though for putting this side together and getting the win is Mike Phelan, interim manager who just may have earned himself a permanent role at the club for a little while longer.
Player Ratings – Hull 2-1 Leicester
| GK Jakupovic – 7 RB Elmohamady – 7.5 CB Livermore -7.5 CB Davies – 8.5 LB Robertson – 7.5 DM Meyler – 6 DM Huddlestone – 5 DM Clucas – 7.5 RAM Snodgrass – 8.5 LAM Diomande – 8 CF A. Hernandez – 8 |
GK Schmeichel – 7 RB Simpson – 5 CB L. Hernandez – 4 CB Morgan – 5 LB Fuchs – 6.5 DM Drinkwater – 6.5 DM King – 5.5 RW Mahrez – 7 LW Gray – 6 RS Vardy – 5.5 LS Musa – 5.5 |
Man of the Match: Curtis Davies
Curtis Davies was a beast at the back for Hull, helping them secure a surprise win. Davies was fantastic, making 8 interceptions and 15 clearances to keep Vardy and co away from the net. The British defender won everything in the air, tamed Vardy and Musa and was always on the ball and on top of his game.
Conclusion
In all likeliness, Hull City will not finish above Leicester City come the end of the season, but if they keep on performing to the level they achieved in their opening match, they may be able to comfortably survive relegation against all odds.
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