Tigers stun Swans in perfect start to Shota reign
WINNING START: New Hull City head coach Shota Arveladze. Picture credit: Hull City
Hull City 2 - 0 Swansea City
Sky Bet Championship
By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City correspondent
It’s been a bit of a week and a half, hasn’t it? New regime, new manager, back-to-back wins against top-three sides, and, this afternoon, an East Stand rammed to the gills for the first time in ages – the law of TypicalCity dictated that we would lose this one 2-0 in humdrum fashion. But no. What do we say to the god of TypicalCity? NOT TODAY.
Shota Arvelazde had only taken charge a couple of days previously and had spent a fair bit of that time doing the media interview rounds in his sleek black polo-neck (as TigerTube pointed out on Twitter, there are likely to be a few Milk Trays going undelivered in Tbilisi for the foreseeable).
So, while he’s surely been doing his research in recent weeks – his appointment was the worst-kept secret in football, after all – it wasn’t likely that he was going to make sweeping changes to a team he’d only just met.
There was just one alteration to the starting 11 of the smash ‘n’ grab victory at Bournemouth – Brandon Fleming in for the injured Randell Williams. And it took all of four minutes and 26 seconds (or thereabouts) for Fleming to make his mark on the game and put to bed any worries that the Tigers would slip up here.
Fleming picked up the ball mid-way down the left-hand side of Swansea’s half, and fired a cross that evaded the Swans defence and fell into the path of Tom Eaves – who stuck out his long left leg and poked it home.
What a dream start for Arveladze – and it was also the 600th goal ever scored at the MKM Stadium. A nice badge of honour for Eaves, who has undergone a remarkable transformation in the past few games. This is, after all, the guy who scored nearly 40 goals in two seasons for Gillingham – he’s always had it in him.
‘FEELS LIKE A CLOUD HAS LIFTED’: Fans wave a Turkey flag in homage to new owner Acun Ilıcalı. Picture credit: Hull City
Swansea were hardly getting a look-in, and they were reeling once more barely 10 minutes later.
George Honeyman floated in a simply wonderful cross from deep on the right-hand side, which fell perfectly for Keane Lewis-Potter on the edge of the left-hand side of the box. He stuck it in from close range with his right foot – and City were 2-0 up in just the 16th minute.
The Swans had little in response to the Tigers’ organised midfield, but a rare attack in the 36th minute saw Hannes Wolf’s header comfortably saved by Nathan Baxter. For once, Baxter was enjoying a relatively quiet afternoon thus far.
As half-time approached, Eaves had the ball in the net - but had it ruled out for a foul. Swansea then came forward again, and Joël Piroe had the opportunity to shoot from about 20 yards out, but missed the target by a considerable distance.
The Swans’ manager Russell Martin – clad in black, like his animated touchline counterpart – knew he had to change something, and he began with a couple of half-time substitutions; Michael Obafemi on for Jay Fulton and Olivier Ntcham on for Wolf.
It was City who mounted the first couple of attacks, though, with Lewis-Potter forcing keeper Ben Hamer to come out, and then Eaves shooting well wide from range. But Obafemi then came close at the other end, shooting just wide from a good cross from Joel Latibeaudiere.
ON FORM: Tom Eaves, who got City off to a flyer with the opener. Picture credit: Hull City
Richie Smallwood could have made it three in the 53rd minute when the ball fell to him after Ryan Longman’s cross from the right was punched out by Hamer; the captain had time to steady himself but perhaps took it a little too quickly and blazed well over.
In the 57th minute, Swansea really should have scored, but somehow didn’t, when Obafemi latched on to a deflected shot and Baxter pulled off a magnificent save to push it on to the crossbar. There was a bit of a goalmouth scramble before Ryan Manning’s 20-yard effort was easily collected by Baxter.
A bit of disastrous defending in the 70th minute had Swans’ hearts in mouths after Eaves crossed from the right and it very nearly crossed the line; moments later Lewis-Potter looked odds-on to get his second after he and Eaves broke clear again, but the young number 11 – whom new owner Acun Ilıcalı made clear was going nowhere this week – put it well wide.
HAPPY MAN: New owner Acun Ilıcalı, centre, watching from the stands. Picture credit: Hull City
A minute or so later, Swansea missed another glorious opportunity to get one back after they were awarded a central free kick about 20 yards out. Liam Walsh, the Swans’ third substitute, did very well to loft it over the Tigers’ defensive wall, only to see it cannon off the left-hand post. Then Piroe put the rebound inches wide; it just wasn’t happening for the men in white.
In the 78th minute, Ben Cabango had a 20-yard shot saved low by Baxter, just before a badly mistimed challenge by Manning on Honeyman, clattering him to the ground, elicited just a yellow card. Honeyman recovered as former Tigers loan star Regan Slater – signed on a two and a half-year deal this week – came on to a standing ovation from Tigers fans.
Deep into injury time, Piroe had the ball in the net, but it was ruled offside. Even if it had gone in, it would have been a minor blot on what was, like the Blackburn match, our party. This was our day. By this time, fans right around the stadium were bouncing, and chanting, “We’ve got Arveladze,” and shining their phone torches. It was quite something to behold.
It felt like a cloud had lifted. We remain 19th in the league… but surely not for much longer.