On an opening day which saw five managers take charge of their first competitive game at their new club, and there were contrasting starts for Pep Guardiola and David Moyes as pre-season title favourites Manchester City struck late to beat plucky Sunderland.
Advertisement
Goals from Adama Diomande and Robert Snodgrass sealed a 2-1 win for the Tigers, who became the first side in 27 years to inflict an opening weekend defeat on the title holders.
However, the hunger, desire, passion, and general togetherness shown by the eleven players, who played the full 90 minutes today, filled me with a confidence I did not possess just hours before our Premier League season kicked-off, and made me proud to be a Hull City supporter once again.
‘We were the underdogs and everybody was tipping us to lose the game – but when that happens there is something about this squad that makes us dig deep.
Vardy was guilty of two frightful first-half misses at Hull and – after the second of them – was caught on camera punching himself in the face with frustration, a clip that soon went viral. There was no point doing all the hard work and then having a sulk because we haven’t got any players.
“I thought the players had it in them, we had to change a lot of things in order to get to this stage”, Phelan told Sky Sports.
“We had to leave the onus with them”, said Hull captain Curtis Davies. “That would be a very good show against the best teams in Europe”.
Nathan Redmond scored an equalizer on his Southampton debut against a Watford side that finished with 10 men after taking a ninth-minute lead through Etienne Capoue, while a free kick from Swiss playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri earned Stoke a point at promoted Middlesbrough. They were the savviest side – playing towards their strengths, making the most of their opportunities and getting lucky.
“At the beginning of the second half we equalised and then we wanted to win”.
Adama Diomande put Hull ahead in first-half stoppage time, Riyad Mahrez leveled from the penalty spot for Leicester just after the restart and Robert Snodgrass scored the victor in the 57th minute.
Hull caretaker manager Mike Phelan has warned the club’s morale-boosting start to the season will be unsustainable without new signings. Now we are back with feet on the ground and we have to work hard.
Koeman added: “I think it’s a fair result”.
Advertisement
Wenger, in contrast, only brought in one established player this summer – Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka for $40M, and he started on the bench – and has steadfastly refused to reenter the market though his team has a glaring hole at center forward and is missing two senior center backs to long-term injuries. This is the key of the match.
