Kamara shows mettle as Tigers fight back to stun Leeds in six-goal thriller

ANSWERED HIS CRITICS: Abu Kamara. Pictures courtesy of Hull City

Hull City 3 - 3 Leeds United

Sky Bet Championship

MKM Stadum

Attendance: 24,463

By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City Correspondent

Rubén Sellés’ battling Tigers snatched a point at the end of a six-goal thriller against league leaders Leeds, with under-fire Abu Kamara bagging a brace.

It couldn’t have been a better response from the youngster, who had taken some considerable abuse on social media among some quarters who squarely blamed him for the heartbreaking last-minute defeat to Boro on New Year’s Day.

Sellés later brought him out to face the music in an interview with Radio Humberside after he was further criticised for, er, posting an emoji on social media. It was all a bit odd, but it perhaps served to garner him a bit of sympathy among fans ahead of kick-off. Maybe that was Sellés’s strategy.

But in the end it was Kamara’s feet that would do the talking, and all was forgotten just five minutes in.

Mason Burstow spotted Kamara and laid off a long ball to him, with Leeds keeper Ivan Meslier, for some reason, in no man’s land outside the area. Kamara lobbed it over him and into the back of the net, to give City a lead almost no one would have expected. Dreamed of, yes, expected – never.

Barely a couple of minutes later, though, Leeds came so close to levelling, but Sean McLoughlin and Ivor Pandur combined to clear off the line. Daniel James then had a shot saved before Pandur tipped away an effort from Brenden Aaronson. Could have been 1-2. But it wasn’t, which Leeds would eventually come to rue.

City’s first corner came in the 14th minute, but the kick, taken in front of a subdued North East corner packed with Leeds fans, came to nothing. However, the Tigers still pressed, clearly buoyed by that early goal, and the visitors looked a bit at sea in the area before a foul put a stop to it.

Leeds were showing flashes of why they sit atop the Championship, but were mostly fluffing their lines in front of goal.

In the 20th minute, Maximillian Wöber shot wide from the left, moments before Jayden Bogle cut the ball back from the byline on the right, but City cleared the danger.

A couple of minutes later, Joel Piroe scuffed it from a good position on the edge of the area. It made a bit of a refreshing change to watch another side being frustrating in front of goal at the MKM Stadium.

The Tigers came agonisingly close to a quite unfathomable 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute. Leeds failed to stop Puerta’s low cross from the left, and Regan Slater was racing towards the tap-in at the far post with Meslier beaten. All Slater could do was hit the woodwork (while it wasn’t quite a sitter, he must be mightily sick of these missed chances now!), before Steven Alzate’s long-range follow-up fizzed just wide of the left post.

In the 37th minute, Lewie Coyle did well to intercept the ball with his head and play in Kamara. It went out for a throw-in by Gustavo Puerto, which caused uncertainty in the Leeds box before it was hit just wide of the far post by Matty Jacob – a lovely angled shot from the left-hand side of the area. There was really only one team in this at the moment, and it was City. What was going on?

This isn’t to say Leeds weren’t looking dangerous on the break – there were a few heart-in-mouth moments near the Tigers goal, but the defence and Pandur were thus far equal to them.

In the 40th minute, Pandur put behind a cross-shot from Bogle who had, again, raced right to the byline in the area, but nothing came of the corner.

A minute before the break, Alzate danced around three Leeds defenders in the box before shooting over. Lovely stuff!

Among the many issues with City this season, though, is their ability to play for 90 minutes, and a big second half lay ahead. Surely they couldn’t keep Leeds out for the rest of the match?

The answer came barely a minute after the restart.

Manor Solomon played in Ao Tanaka just outside the area and he unleashed a beautiful curling right-foot shot into the top-right corner.

Hardly any City fan would have disagreed that it was only a matter of time before the league leaders came back into it, but so soon after half-time was a bit of a sucker punch – and all the noise, as you’d expect, was now coming from that North East corner.

Jacob then shot straight at Meslier from about 20 yards as City sought to hit straight back.

A minute later, Solomon whipped in a cross from the left, and fortunately for City, there was no one there for the tap-in. If Leeds hadn’t quite turned up in the first half, now they had most certainly arrived.

In the 55th minute, after a shot from Puerta was deflected behind, City had two corners in succession as the home fans urged them on.

After more good pressure from City, a curling effort by Kamara took a slight deflection behind. Meslier punched away the resulting corner as, for a moment, Leeds came under siege, but it was soon over as Kamara put it out for a goal kick.

However, just after the hour mark, the Tigers’ spirited defence was breached again.

Played in by Wöber, Solomon exploited a bit of a slip by Coyle, and his cross went right across the face of goal, barely a yard from the line. It appeared to have evaded everyone but then Bogle managed to cut it back, before James popped up to poke it home.

Shortly afterwards came the first couple of substitutions from a City bench that had raised eyebrows pre-match for its youthful makeup. Harry Vaughan, who’d impressed against Boro, replaced Mason Burstow, and Xavier Simons was on for Alzate.

In the 72nd minute, it seemed like game over after a dreadful error by Pandur gifted Leeds their third. The keeper passed out of defence but only to Piroe, and this time he made no mistake by advancing into the area and firing a left-foot shot back past him from 12 yards.

The Leeds fans were in full voice, taunting City with their own “mauled” chant, and claiming that there was only one team in Yorkshire. Hmm.

Though some home fans had had enough of this, the third goal hadn’t sparked what you would call an exodus. And those who remained in their seats were rewarded on 80 minutes with a goal that quietened down the visiting fans considerably.

After a free kick was headed goalwards by McLoughlin it looked as though it was going to come back off the crossbar. Meslier rose to palm it away, but could only knock it down into the path of João Pedro a yard out. Bang – game on!

A couple of minutes later, Simons made a charging run and was unfairly halted by Joseph Rodon, who earned the first booking of the match for bringing him down.

Puerta’s resulting free kick, from about 30 yards out, was floated into the area but cleared.

Then, at the other end, Pandur pulled off a brilliant header from outside the area to deny James, who had looked clean through and on to restore Leeds’ two-goal cushion.

Suddenly, though, it was Leeds who had their backs to the wall again. In the 88th minute a shot from Kamara was deflected over, and there was a late penalty shout in the visitors’ area – before Kamara bagged his second just a minute before time, sending the home fans wild.

Puerta’s corner was delivered into the pack in the six-yard area, but it was only cleared as far as Kamara on the right-hand side of the box about 15 yards out. He read it well, and drilled a left-foot shot past Meslier, who could only stick his right foot out in desperation as he watched it sail past him.

Now THAT is how you answer your critics!

All City had to do now was hold on for four minutes of added time – not a given, as we know. But they did.

On paper, only a point gained… but what a point. What a match! When it looked like game over, City refused to give up. Of course, we’re nowhere near out of the woods yet, and this is still a side lacking in quality and experience – but this stunning comeback should boost the confidence of the team, and Kamara, no end.