Ultimately, it is difficult not to feel frustrated once again after that Bristol City performance. Following consecutive victories and an excellent away triumph at Millwall during the week, I was confident that this would be an opportunity to extend our winning streak and potentially secure a position within the top-six and a play-off spot.
Prior to kick-off, the news came through that Coventry City had secured a 3-2 victory through a late 97th-minute winner, having initially led by two goals before being pegged back by Stoke City. The Coventry supporters would have been uncertain whether they had missed their chance, but Frank Lampard’s side demonstrated the requisite determination to secure victory and maintain their standing in the top-six. That was a real example of a team not settling and instead striving to get that all-important winner, when they may have felt a degree of nervousness having seen a two-goal lead evaporate.
Liam Manning made the decision to recall Anis Mehmeti, the side’s top scorer, to his starting lineup in place of George Earthy. This was not entirely unexpected and it was reasonable to anticipate that Anis would want to put on a show, to retain his starting position for the remainder of the season and add to his goal tally. There were no other changes but worryingly, there was still no Nahki Wells on the bench. With just 10 games remaining, we must hope that Nahki recovers from his injury sooner rather than later.
We started the game somewhat tentatively, with Hull City looking the brighter side. Despite their lowly position in the league, the Tigers have improved under their new manager and have beaten both Sheffield United and Sunderland on their travels in recent weeks. Ruben Selles’s side deservedly took the lead with a well-constructed opener, although, Zak Vyner and Rob Dickie will have been disappointed with their defending for the goal. Having watched the goal back, I also think that had Max O’Leary not stopped when coming out, he may have been able to smother the chance but he instead showed Joao Pedro the side to prod home.
The travelling Tigers fans were still celebrating the goal when a minute later, Pedro was dismissed for a two-footed challenge on George Tanner. At the time, I felt that the sending-off was somewhat harsh, but referee James Linington was in a good position and was quick to make his decision. Having watched the challenge back, it is reckless and two-footed. However, I do think Pedro tries to pull out and doesn’t really catch George. It is the other Hull City player who does. I think with the manner of the challenge, the red was the correct decision.
Now facing a team who are at the wrong end of the table and down to 10 men, it was interesting to see if we possessed the necessary guile, skill and determination to break them down, get back into the game and ultimately seal the win.
We had all the possession for the remainder of the first half, yet we failed to find that quality cross or finish to get the equaliser. Scott Twine went close on several occasions with shots blocked or saved by the keeper. Sinclair Armstrong worked hard again and had two nearly identical headers that he was unable to get above and could only head over, to his and the City fans’ frustrations.
It was all a little too safe and deliberate. We didn’t move the ball quickly enough or get it wide. Mehmeti constantly came inside, which narrowed the pitch, making it easier for the Hull City defence to defend. I thought the optimum way of playing against 10 men, was to get it wide and spread the pitch, pulling the opposition out wide. We just failed to do it regularly enough or with the necessary tempo. Max Bird and Jason Knight turned down passes or shots from the edge of the box. We just needed to be a little braver and take more of a risk.
I honestly felt that Manning would make tactical adjustments at half-time and look to go more attacking. Hull City sat in the low block and were happy to defend. We could easily have sacrificed a defender and gone more attacking. As it was, our head coach waited for his alarm to go off again on the hour before making any changes. To be fair, we had equalised by that point after Armstrong had been wrestled to the ground and Linington made the right call again, pointing to the spot. Mehmeti stepped up and confidently dispatched the ball into the back of the net, sending the keeper the wrong way. It was the only bright spot for Anis on an otherwise ineffective afternoon, but he was by no means on his own there.
Unlike the game earlier in the week, the substitutions did not have the desired impact. Sam Bell came on at left wing-back, but with his instinct to come inside, he further narrowed the pitch. Both Brian Tinnion and Manning have talked about Sam as being a forward, a number nine and yet we played him left wing-back. Why shoehorn players into positions, when you have an option in Elijah Morrison sitting on the bench? Hull City were offering nothing as an attacking force and surely this was a perfect opportunity to get Morrison at them, while not having to worry about the defensive aspect of his game as much.
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Earthy and Yu Hirakawa came on and whilst both tried we still couldn’t find that quality final ball. I think we could still be playing now and not have scored from open play. I was surprised following his exploits at The Den, that Harry Cornick was not given more time. The game had gone flat and Cornick’s introduction may have caused more of a buzz.
In the end it was relatively comfortable for Hull City, despite us having a crazy 79% possession and 25 shots. It’s clearly not all doom and gloom and we are still in seventh and in touching distance of the top six, but when opportunities present themselves you have to take them. This was another game that was there for the taking and we failed to do what was needed. Ultimately I think this will cost us in the end.
Our 3 Peaps in A Podcast player ratings were: Max O’Leary 6.0, George Tanner 6.0, Rob Dickie 5.5, Zak Vyner 6.0, Cameron Pring 6.0, Mark Sykes 6.5, Max Bird 5.5, Jason Knight 6.0, Scott Twine 6.5*MotM, Anis Mehmeti 5.0 and Sinclair Armstrong 6.0.
For the substitutes who must play a minimum of 20 minutes (including injury time), we went: Haydon Roberts 5.0, Yu Hirakawa 6.0, George Earthy 5.0 and Sam Bell 5.0. A game average player rating of 5.73. That’s an overall season-to-date average player rating of 6.17.
For Liam Manning it was 4.5. The substitutions didn’t work and it was all a little too safe and deliberate. The game rating was 5.0, all a little dull and a massive opportunity missed.