HULL CITY 2-0 MANCHESTER UNITED: Newly-promoted Tigers get their Premier League campaign off to a roaring start by outplaying and easily beating an abject United side
Michael Carrick had no answer to Hull City(Image: Getty Images)
Manchester United kicked off their Premier League season with a woeful defeat by Hull City in Michael Carrick’s first game as permanent manager. Having arrived on Humberside full of optimism, they left having put in one of the worst performances in recent memory.
Hull took the lead when Semi Ajayi smashed in a loose ball from a corner in the 17th minute. It was 2-0 to the newly-promoted side in the 38th minute when Regan Slater’s fantastic free-kick was nodded in by Nobel Mendy.
United went in at the half-time break having seen 70 per cent of the ball but having truly tested Hull goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis once with Bryan Mbeumo’s effort at the back post.
Carrick reacted by sending on Marcus Rashford for Patrick Dorgu at half-time but got zero reaction from his players, who remained sloppy in possession and lacking intensity out of it. Their first real chance came in the 78th minute, when Hull had substituted their two starting centre-backs, with Tzolakis saving from Mbeumo one-on-one.
In truth they didn’t even huff and puff. United mustered next to nothing of note and were deservedly beaten by organised and determined opponents. Here are the talking points.
1. Lammens powerless
United goalkeeper Lammens had already been forced into making three decent stops before Hull hit the front. The Belgian pushed away a header from Ollie McBurnie, tipped over Ryan Giles’ shanked cross and kept out another from McBurnie just before Ajayi buried it.
Lammens has provided a solid and calming presence at the back since his arrival from Royal Antwerp 11 months ago and it was his defence who let him down in the early stages. Luke Shaw lost John Egan at the front post, Ayden Heaven lost McBurnie at the back post and Ajayi was completely unmarked to power home the rebound after Lammens’ save came back off the post.
Semi Ajayi opened the scoring for Hull(Image: George Wood/Getty Images)
2. Direct and deadly
Hull’s game plan was obvious right from the off. Get the ball wide and put it into the box to challenge United in the air. McBurnie is the perfect striker for this tactic; aggressive and awkward. But it was their centre-backs who did the damage from set pieces.
On both occasions the delivery was exceptional, flat and fast. But the lack of leadership and presence in the United defence was remarkable, with Harry Maguire’s fabled ‘slabhead’ nowhere to be seen. Hull’s aggression clearly unsettled United, yet it was their quality from dead balls which did the damage.
Nobel Mendy put Hull 2-0 up with a header(Image: George Wood/Getty Images)
3. United way off the pace
When you start a new season, the hope is that your players will be highly motivated and raring to go. There was only one side who that appeared to be the case for. United were slow to the ball, lost duel after duel and looked all at sea while defending.
Watching on, it was hard not to wonder whether any other top Premier League sides would still be happy with the statis in defence, with Shaw in his 13th season with the club and Maguire still first-choice at the start of another season.
It was little better in central midfield, either, where new arrivals Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos failed to offer much protection without the ball, or push United forward on the ball. The tactical set-up frequently left players occupying the same positions in the centre of the pitch.
Manchester United’s new-look midfield struggled(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
4. Tenacious Tigers
Not many people have given Hull a chance of staying in the Premier League this season after coming up via the play-offs. The Tigers conceded a whopping 66 goals in the Championship last season, but turned it on when it mattered in May.
On this evidence, Sergej Jakirović has a plan for keeping them up. His five-man defence didn’t look defensive, with wingbacks Giles and Lewie Coyle getting forward and putting crosses into the box. Mendy made the perfect start on debut, meaning that club-record signing Tzolakis barely had anything to do.
Konstantinos Tzolakis had a comfortable time in goal(Image: Getty Images)
5. Ponderous and toothless
United were supposed to come out after the half-time break on a mission. They were supposed to get Bruno Fernandes on the ball and turn it around through sheer willpower. But it was simply just more of the same lacklustre stuff.
Tielemans looked well off the pace. Heaven’s performance was riddled with errors. Fernandes’ trademark defence-splitting passes were nowhere to be seen. Matheus Cunha, dropping deep time and again, was completely bypassed. Rashford didn’t return a hero. Mbeumo looked the most threatening, but really that is grasping at straws. It’s back to the drawing board after this shambolic display.
