Adama Diomande put Hull in front just before the break but Riyad Mahrez’s penalty drew the Foxes level in the opening moments of the second half.
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Everton is looking to rebound from a disastrous season last year under new manager Ronald Koeman, and it started the season on solid footing, playing Tottenham – a strong candidate to make the top four once again this year – to a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. The Tigers were left in a state, with no summer signings and only 13 senior players fit, they had to welcome the champions.
It is a tactic many teams are likely to employ against the champions, while the Foxes will also discover that opponents will raise their game when they are in town.
‘The biggest difference from Latin players to English players is this: maybe the Latin players slow down, are very disappointed and don’t react immediately, the English players after one hour say, “Come on, react” – and they react. Leicester are the first team to lose their opening game as retaining champions.
The absence of midfield shield N’Golo Kante, who left for Chelsea in the summer, was notable on Saturday as Hull were able to wrestle control in the centre of the field.
They took the lead, however, against the run of play in the first minute of first-half stoppage time when Diomande leapt in tandem with Abel Hernandez to meet Kasper Schmeichel’s punched clearance from a Curtis Davies header. Tim Huddleston clipped Gray outside the penalty box, but the referee made the decision to give away the penalty.
“It was great to see the team and staff all pull together and surprise so many people”, said caretaker manager Mike Phelan. “It was just a case of the players galvanising each other today against the champions”, he said.
Everton opened the scoring in the first five minutes of a free kick from Ross Barkley, a player the Toffees will depend on heavily.
Spurs lost goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to a hamstring injury in the 36th minute but bounced back when Lamela nodded in Kyle Walker’s cross.
“Next week could be a big week because we still need to find players. It’s important we get some answers”.
“At that point I think we got so nervous”. That would be a very good show against the best teams in Europe.’ Ranieri added he had not yet spoken to Allardyce.
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.
Striker Salomon Rondon nodded the only goal to give West Bromwich Albion a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace in their opening Premier League match of the season.
Watford defender Ben Watson, on the pitch for 12 minutes as a substitute, was sent off for pulling back Southampton forward Shane Long 14 minutes from time and Redmond had a late effort ruled out for offside.
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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.
