Valiant Tigers edged out by Cottagers as Shota shuffles pack
Pictures by Hull City
Hull City 0 - 1 Fulham
Sky Bet Championship
By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City correspondent
Hull City put up a valiant fight against league leaders Fulham, which showed something of a return to form after back-to-back defeats – but despite atrocious weather proving a leveller for much of the game, they couldn’t find an answer to Aleksandar Mitrovic’s 57th-minute header.
Shota Arveladze had shuffled his pack again following the poor performance at Derby, bringing back Ryan Longman, Richie Smallwood as captain, and Regan Slater – but Tom Eaves and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh were surprising omissions.
Many felt that Eaves in particular would have relished the conditions today.
Fulham, led by Marco Silva on his first return to the MKM Stadium since his stint at City in 2017, had dominated the early stages, the ball rarely creeping into their half in the first 10 minutes.
A couple of Cottagers corners in quick succession came to nothing, and ex-Tiger Tom Cairney shot well over in the 10th minute, but it looked as though the Tigers defence would be in for a busy afternoon.
City then briefly forged a move upfield, and went on to enjoy a rare few minutes of possession that culminated in a George Honeyman free-kick about 25 yards out near the touchline, though Fulham dealt with the threat comfortably.
In the 16th minute, Harry Wilson went on a run down the right but slipped on the sodden pitch just before he had chance to put in a dangerous cross, and the Tigers had a huge let-off in the 21st minute when Wilson rounded Ingram, who had come well out of his area, but Fulham’s No 8 put it well wide of the unguarded goal.
Back up the other end, Marcus Forss found himself in the Fulham area but Neco Williams made light work of dispossessing him before the Tigers’ new Swedish forward could even think about shooting.
Fulham were nearly ahead in the 25th minute, after Brandon Fleming had stuck out a leg, but failed to stop a through ball from Mitrovic – who, incidentally, starting this match with 30 goals to his name, has scored more this season than all of the Tigers put together – and Ingram pulled off an impressive save to stop Wilson.
For all their possession, it was Fulham’s first shot on target; mind you, City hadn’t managed any thus far. There was always a sense that the Cottagers hadn’t quite got into fourth gear.
And yet, as the half wore on, the Tigers grew into the game and seemed to be dealing with the conditions marginally better.
They were doing well to anticipate the leaden movement of the ball as the rain continued to hammer down, Keane Lewis-Potter and Slater in particular managing to dance around their markers and hold on to the ball.
City’s best move of the game yet came around the 35-minute mark, and resulted in Honeyman dragging the ball wide, after which the referee waved away his pleas for a penalty.
Another Fulham attack moments later saw Wilson miss the target once again from a great position, before Forss saw arguably the best chance of the game so far go begging.
Again, that slow-moving ball had caught Fulham’s defence napping and Forss was given time and space to shoot from inside the area, but it trickled inches wide of the left post. Then, from another free kick near the touchline, after Mitrovic had clattered Lewie Coyle, Forss’s glancing header went just wide.
Five minutes after the break, Fulham were awarded a free kick about 30 yards out following Honeyman’s challenge on Nathaniel Chalobah, but the move resulted in Ingram smothering the ball from an attempt by Mitrovic.
A few minutes later, Fulham again failed to clear, keeper Marek Rodak misjudging the wet ball, but he managed to backtrack and deny Lewis-Potter with an excellent save. At the other end, his counterpart Ingram pulled off an equally impressive stop to deny Fabio Carvalho.
But just before the hour mark it was Fulham that finally broke the deadlock – and it was that goal-machine Mitrovic, whose glancing header from a great cross by Wilson gave Ingram no chance. Make that 31 goals.
It was a turning point that also coincided with a break in the driving rain and the brief appearance of a rainbow above the East Stand. When Mitrovic was substituted later on, he left to a chorus of boos from the City fans. Still, though – you’d have him in your side…
With 20 minutes to go, Forss was replaced by Tyler Smith, and Greg Docherty came on for Slater five minutes later. Five minutes after that, George Moncur was introduced for Longman – but in truth, not much else of note had happened as the action had gone well off the boil and Fulham looked happy to coast to victory.
In the dying minutes, though, the Tigers rediscovered their sense of urgency, and after good work from Lewis-Potter down the right, the ball fell to Smallwood, who hit a great 20-yard volley – but it was straight at Rodak. Either side of him and it would have rippled the back of the net.
But it was not to be. And, while there were no points at the end of the rainbow for City on this occasion, they should take heart from today’s performance.
It was a vast improvement on last week, and there’s no shame in a narrow defeat to a team who will almost certainly be playing Premier League football next season.