Tigers beaten, but a side transformed
Pictures by Hull City
Hull City 0 - 1 Blackburn Rovers
Sky Bet Championship
Attendance: 18,843
By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City correspondent
Two back-to-back away wins attracted an expectant crowd of nearly 19,000 to the MKM Stadium, buoyed by a “kids for a quid” promotion and talk of City’s next manager almost certainly being Liam Rosenior – the former Tigers midfielder whose nana is, famously, from Hull.
TypicalCity dictated, therefore, that City would lose… and lose they did – but, at least, not quite in the hapless manner of recent times. They showed a great deal more spirit in what was an end-to-end match, but they lacked the killer instinct and, yet again, conceding an early goal was to be their undoing.
Indeed, the Tigers looked a bit shaky at the back from the off, and in the fifth minute, Adam Wharton was allowed too much space to shoot over from a good position about 18 yards out. A few moments later, Sammie Szmodics swiped the ball wide of the left post.
But then the Tigers won a couple of corners in succession, before Ryan Longman whipped in a ball from the right that keeper Thomas Kaminski had to leap to parry away.
After 10 minutes, Adam Wharton did well to carve open the Tigers midfield, leading to another wobbly spell in defence during which City struggled to clear. Wharton then played in Ben Brereton Diaz, but he was ruled offside, before Nathan Baxter made a good stop from Szmodics in the 13th minute. A challenge from Jean Michael Seri then prevented Brereton Diaz from pouncing on the rebound.
Two minutes later, though, Blackburn took full advantage of City’s defensive frailties, as Adam Wharton again played a clever ball into the box and found Szmodics, who got beyond his man to fire low past Baxter from a very acute angle.
The Tigers endeavoured to hit straight back and had two appeals for a corner denied by the referee, much to the chagrin of the North Stand.
Then, in what was City’s best chance so far, a great cross by Regan Slater fizzed across the goal, but Longman, in a desperate attempt to slide in to meet it, missed the ball and crashed into the far post, apparently connecting with the woodwork in the most painful area possible for a gentleman. After a few moments, though, he was gingerly back on his feet.
As the half-hour mark approached, Ryan Woods was booked for a foul, but this was moments after Seri had appeared to be upended by Szmodics, and the referee – who was not earning himself many fans in the home stands, it has to be said – was surrounded by angry City players after giving the free kick in Blackburn’s favour.
The North Stand was roused in the 36th minute after a spell of impressive play between Dimitrios Pelkas and Cyrus Christie, as the Tigers attempted to pass their way into the area, but Blackburn cleared the danger. Jacob Greaves then volleyed wide of right post from fairly deep on the left.
However, City were nearly caught out yet again moments before the break as Brereton Diaz saw a shot well held by Baxter.
Interim head coach Andy Dawson made his first two changes at half-time, with Ozan Tufan on for Seri and Brandon Fleming on for Alfie Jones.
In the first couple of minutes of the second half, somewhat bizarrely, Blackburn squandered possession from a free kick and Adam Wharton ballooned it out for a City corner. Taken by Pelkas, it was nodded just wide of the far post by Greaves.
A shot from Szmodics, near the byline, was well-smothered by Baxter, and a few minutes later Brereton Diaz put in a great through ball to Sam Gallagher, who got in front of Greaves and was one-on-one with Baxter. The Tigers keeper pulled off a brilliant save to keep it at 0-1.
City tried to hit Blackburn on the break, and Pelkas found Fleming in a great position but he just couldn’t control the ball. Back at the other end, a Blackburn corner was cleared out to Szmodics, but he shot well over.
“We are Blackburn, we’re top of the league,” chanted the visitors. (Spoiler alert – they’re not.)
“We are Hull City, we don’t give a ****,” came the reply – moments before the Tigers raced away again. Slater flung in a great cross to Pelkas in the six-yard area, but, agonisingly, he headed into the turf and over the bar. He rose, slowly, his body language oozing frustration and dejection.
For all their efforts, the Tigers didn’t really get much more of a look-in in front of goal, and Blackburn sought to bolster their defence just after the hour mark, changing to a back five after the introduction of Daniel Ayala for Adam Wharton, and Hayden Carter for Tyrhys Dolan.
There were a couple of scares when City were forced to scramble the ball behind after Szmodics had cut it across goal, and Baxter comfortably held the resulting corner. Then a pot-shot in the 64th minute by Brereton Diaz fizzed past the diving Baxter’s near post.
City then mounted an assault on Blackburn’s box, in which a shot by Christie was cannoned out for a corner. Just before it was taken, Oscar Estupinian entered the fray in the 66th minute – but the threat was eventually snuffed out by a Tigers foul in their own area.
There were more changes for Blackburn in the 70th minute, with Jack Vale replacing Gallagher, and Szmodics making way for Bradley Dack. The latter was greeted by boos from the home fans, who have not remotely forgotten Dack’s widely parodied “Shambles” comment on Twitter, prompted by the very short-notice postponement of last year’s Boxing Day fixture between the two sides.
With 10 minutes to go, Slater shot over from 25 yards and the Tigers tried desperately to break down Blackburn’s stubborn back line, to no avail. Kaminski clashed with Oscar rising for the ball, and it went out for a corner as the Blackburn keeper lay prone, but he eventually recovered, and substitute Dogukan Sinik’s corner floated over everyone and out for a goal kick.
A final change for City saw Lewie Coyle replace Christie ahead of six minutes of added time – but it just wasn’t to be for the Tigers.
This was, though, a side transformed from the one whose heads went down and who quickly ran out of steam after going behind against Birmingham, and they really did give it a good go against one of the division’s top sides.
Dawson looks likely to be in charge for the bottom-half clash against Middlesbrough on Tuesday. Will Rosenior be watching?