Robert Snodgrass scored the victor as crisis club Hull City brought Premier League champions Leicester City crashing to earth with a shock 2-1 victory on Saturday’s opening day.
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The Tigers beat the Foxes 2-1 in their first EPL match of the season, with Diomande and Snodgrass scoring either side of halftime to stun Leicester.
“I told my players this season will be harder than last season”. We made a huge effort – but we are not like a team.
Leicester are also the first reigning champions to lose their first match of the season, since Arsenal lost 4-1 to United in the 1989-90 season. New signings Luis Hernandez and Ahmed Musa both started.
Having levelled, Leicester began to discover some rhythm in their play, but they were again punished for their lack of sharpness as Robert Snodgrass put Hull in the lead again.
He attempted a bicycle kick but was marginally beaten to the ball by an equally acrobatic move from team-mate Adama Diomande.
Leicester equalized with a penalty nearly immediately after the re-start, Riyad Mahrez driving home the spot-kick.
However, Hull didn’t hold back and got into the lead through Rober Snodgrass who produced a smart finish.
Hull’s preparations for their top-flight return have been nightmarish, with Steve Bruce walking out and his assistant Mike Phelan left in caretaker charge of a squad consisting just 13 fit first-teamers, supplemented here by five academy prospects on the bench.
“The players have enjoyed themselves today”.
Moyes’ former club Everton started life under Ronald Koeman by drawing with last season’s third place team Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park. Lloris limped off with a hamstring injury in the 36th minute.
But Lamela equalised in the 59th minute with a header from Kyle Walker’s cross. “It’s not important the result, it’s important how we play”, he added. We got nervous. Our strength is when everyone is connected together.
“It wasn’t meant to be but we need to learn from this”. I think this was the key of the match.
“They played the way I asked them to play”.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrated an opening day 2-1 success over Sunderland.
Leroy Fer scored a late victor as Swansea beat Burnley 1-0 at Turf Moor and a header from West Bromwich Albion’s Salomon Rondon gave the visitors a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace.
Ben Watson was then sent off just 11 minutes after coming on as he brought down Shane Long as the Irishman bore down on goal.
Middlesbrough were denied victory in their first top-flight game since 2009 as a 67th-minute free-kick by Xherdan Shaqiri earned Stoke a 1-1 draw after Alvaro Negredo’s 11th-minute opener.
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There is a reason Manchester City splashed €27 million in cash at Sevilla (back when €27 was a lot of money) for Alvaro Negredo three years ago.
