City and Baggies share the spoils after Carvalho wonder goal

Pictures courtesy of Hull City

Hull City 1 - 1 West Brom

Sky Bet Championship

MKM Stadium

Attendance: 22,654

By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City Correspondent

The Tigers and the Baggies shared the spoils in a predictably tight encounter between the Championship’s sixth and fifth-placed sides.

A wonder goal by Fabio Carvalho was cancelled out by a bit of a scrappy header just before half-time, and despite a slew of chances at both ends in the second half – the goalposts taking a bit of a hammering – neither side could find a breakthrough.

Ahead of kick-off there was a warm welcome back for Jean Michaël Seri, returning to the MKM Stadium for the first time since winning the African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast. As the sun shone down on another capacity crowd, Seri was introduced on to the pitch to a standing ovation, some fans waving the country’s flag – it was a lovely moment.

The opening period of the match was fairly measured, cagey even – and the first effort of note didn’t arrive until the 17th minute when Albion’s Mikey Johnston shook off his marker and managed to get a shot away, but he pulled it just wide of the left post.

Moments later, a shot from Jaden Philogene was deflected out for a corner, but no one was able to connect with it.

In the 19th minute, West Brom really should have taken the lead as Jed Wallace smashed a shot against the post from inside the area. It then fell to Alex Mowatt, but Ryan Allsop parried his effort away.

A few minutes later, a powerful shot from Anass Zaroury drew a similar save from Alex Palmer at the South Stand end, and the resulting short corner caused a few problems in the West Brom box before they were able to clear.

In the 28th minute, Lewie Coyle floated a good-looking cross in from the right-hand side of the box but Palmer deftly picked it out of the air with one glove. A minute later, Philogene found himself defending and he was forced to plant the ball out from a corner, from which Darnell Furlong headed across goal before Grady Diangana could only poke wide.

In the 35th minute, the Tigers roared into the lead through a strike of absolute beauty by Fabio Carvalho.

Jacob Greaves rolled a short pass into his path and the Liverpool loan star took one touch before belting it into the back of the net from 20 yards. Unstoppable. City have scored some pearlers this season, and this goal is right up there among the best.

West Brom, though, had always looked dangerous on the attack and they levelled matters just before half-time.

From a corner, Furlong, in the middle of a crowd around the six-yard area, flung himself at the ball, heading it into the ground, and it bounced over a stumbling Allsop into the left-hand side of the net.

It was something of a sickener, coming so close after Fabio’s super-strike, but it really was all that West Brom deserved.

In the 51st minute, a bit of a pot shot from Seri nearly caught out Palmer who was forced to tip it over the bar. City kept up the pressure after this, with an extended period practically camped in the Baggies’ half, although the pace wasn’t exactly frenetic and the atmosphere inside the stadium was, again, pretty flat as a result. (It could be argued that it’s the other way around, of course – a bouncing atmosphere could well raise the tempo on the pitch. Whatever – it is certainly becoming a concern for some fans.)

Just after the hour, Philogene got a shot away inside the area, but it was an easy one for Palmer, diving to his right, to hold on to. Shortly after, Adbuş Ömür made way for Aaron Connolly, who really hasn’t had much of a look-in since returning from injury.

There was a bit of a heart-in-mouth moment as Alfie Jones was outrun by Wallace who advanced into the penalty area, and Greaves saved the day with a brilliantly timed tackle – before appearing to admonish his fellow Tigers defender.

With just over 10 minutes to go, City were so nearly ahead again. Philogene rattled a shot against the left upright, and Carvalho couldn’t keep the rebound down, his follow-up sailing over the bar.

Moments later, it was the Baggies’ turn to rue a missed double chance – and it was almost a carbon-copy of what had just happened at the other end. Substitute Adam Reach cannoned a shot against the left post, before Allsop stuck out a toe – the smallest, but most crucial of interventions – to divert fellow sub Andreas Weimann’s goalbound effort. 

As the minutes ticked down, it still looked as though it was anyone’s game to win, and in the 87th minute Albion sub John Swift shot well over from long range. A couple of minutes later, Weimann found himself in a great position advancing into the box on the right, but he shot weakly at Allsop from 18 yards after being chased down by Greaves.

So, it finished all square – an eminently fair result between two very evenly matched sides. The keyboard warriors may moan, but a decent performance, a wonder goal and a point that keeps the Tigers in the play-off hunt – that’s surely reason enough to be cheerful.