Jones the hero as Tigers edge out Blackburn in five-goal thriller
GET IN: Alfie Jones celebrates his winner against Blackburn as Aaron Connolly, right, shares his delight. Pictures courtesy of Hull City
Hull City 3 - 2 Blackburn Rovers
Sky Bet Championship
MKM Stadium
Attendance: 21,876
By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City Correspondent
Hull City ended 2023 with a return to winning ways – but it took some doing after they surrendered an early two-goal lead against Blackburn Rovers.
After a decidedly unhappy Christmas that saw back-to-back defeats before and after, Liam Rosenior made just the one switch from Boxing Day as Adama Traoré came in for Scott Twine, who dropped to the bench.
And the Tigers got off to a blistering start, going 2-0 up inside just 20 minutes – but they were frustrating at the other end, cancelling out all their good work by the end of the first half.
The first goal came as early as the 11th minute, when a ball from Alfie Jones found Liam Delap advancing down the right. He rounded his marker superbly, before cutting it back from the byline and slotting in from an acute angle.
It was a brilliant solo effort – the decision to take it on himself, when he could have punted it back into the middle of the box, being fully justified on this occasion.
Just a minute later, though, Blackburn were only just denied an equaliser, and City had the woodwork to thank for that. A 20-yard shot from Samir Telalovic deflected onto the far post past a completely beaten Matt Ingram, and it was a sign that the visitors weren’t about to sit back.
In the 18th minute, the Tigers doubled their lead. Jacob Greaves did well to slot a pass behind the defence to Aaron Connolly on the left of the area. He held up the ball, twisted and turned past his markers, and cheekily poked the ball around the keeper.
The MKM Stadium crowd was now in full voice as Ozan Tufan played in Delap in the 21st minute, but he shot straight at Leopold Wahlstedt.
While Blackburn’s defence was shaky, the Tigers didn’t look altogether watertight either, and they were again lucky to keep it out when there was a melee in their six-yard area moments later.
In the 26th minute, Callum Brittain was allowed to shoot from inside the area as Blackburn enjoyed a spell of pressure – and just after the half-hour they made that pressure count.
The Tigers didn’t deal with a long ball over the top to find Sammie Szmodics, who held the ball up despite being chased down by Jones. He lofted it over Ingram into the back of the net – and suddenly, at 2-1, it was game on.
From a Tyler Morton free kick in the 38th minute, Tufan headed straight into the keeper’s arms from about six yards, and a few minutes later Connolly swung at the ball from long-range but again the keeper had it well covered.
A minute before the break, Tufan was inches away from making it 3-1. It started with a surging run down the centre by Delap, who played in Connolly in the box – his attempt was cleared, but it only fell to Jean Michael Seri, who passed to Tufan out wide on the right.
Rather like Delap had with his opener, he got past his defender and managed to get his shot away, only this time it crept across the goal and out.
The Tigers were riding the crest of a wave, and they really should have gone in at half-time in the lead – but the stadium was stunned into near-silence when Rovers grabbed the equaliser moments before the whistle blew.
Arnor Sigurðsson played in Harry Pickering on the left of the area, he took his chance – and Rovers were well and truly back in the game; the Tigers back to square one. Despite being 2-0 up, they had not looked fully in control of the game, a far cry from the assured display against Cardiff earlier in the month.
It was all that Rovers deserved for a dogged and energetic performance.
City showed more control in the second half, though. About five minutes in, Connolly was checked by Sondre Tronstad, who was booked and conceded a free kick in a dangerous position about 25 yards out.
Traoré’s strike thundered against the wall, but City kept up the pressure, and soon after a nice cross-field ball from Regan Slater found Morton, who tried to hook it back into the danger area before Blackburn could at last clear.
In the 57th minute, a ball from Connolly whizzed across the face of goal, but unfortunately no man in black and amber was there to tap it in.
A few minutes later, Tufan found himself in a great position about eight yards out but he just failed to control the ball and the chance was lost. From the corner, Greaves nodded it to Traoré on the 18-yard line, and he struck it powerfully – but it was well saved by Leopold Wahlstedt.
Then, moments later, the Tigers were deservedly back in front. From the second corner in quick succession, it went under Wahlstedt and the defence just couldn’t deal with it, before Alfie Jones was there to poke it home from yards out.
The Tigers would soon be seeing out the rest of the match against ten men, after Dominic Hyam was handed a second yellow card for a challenge on Tufan in the 74th minute.
They didn’t have all that long to see out the match against their depleted opposition – but that’s not always as easy as that sounds, as ten-man sides, especially those who are on the wrong end of a scoreline, often throw everything as well as the kitchen sink because they have nothing to lose.
Late substitutes included Greg Docherty and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, who have long been reduced to bit-part players, and it remains to be seen whether they’ll still be here for much longer.
Docherty nearly put the game out of sight for the Tigers in the 90th minute after being played in by fellow substitute Twine, but he put his 20-yard strike about a yard wide of the far post.
In the end, it was a gutsy, if largely frustrating victory, and results elsewhere ensured that the Tigers snuck back into the top six once more.
It’s worth remembering, though, that this time last year, City were 21st in the table. We’ve come such a long way since then, and, while we’re nowhere near the finished article – 2024 holds so much promise.