“We know very well last season was something special”.
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Schmeichel’s inaccurate throw towards Gray allowed Ahmed Elmohamady to raid forward and send in a unsafe cross from the right that eventually ended up at Snodgrass’ feet and the former Norwich City midfielder fired home.
On paper many thought that Leicester had enough to take down the promoted Tigers, but it was the situations around the KCOM Stadium this summer that had everyone believing Hull had no chance.
Despite being managerless and having only 13 senior players available, Hull defied their current problems to record an unlikely but deserved victory over an uncharacteristically lacklustre Leicester, who became the first team to begin a Premier League title defence with a defeat, since Arsenal did so in 1989, when the Gunners lost to Manchester United.
“The togetherness of the lads, you’ve seen it for years”, said Davies.
“The players galvanised each other against the champions”.
While Ferdinand admits this new Premier League season is the toughest to predict for many years, he is convinced the Mourinho factor will transform United from a team that failed to seal a top four finish into champions for the first time since 2013.
On Saturday that left Phelan with just 13 first-teamers, augmented by five academy players on a threadbare bench – and he admits things can not go on like that.
Sidenote: Raheem Sterling has an incredibly hard summer when he was blamed for England’s struggles in France but he was exceptional in his first game under Pep and might just be the kind of player that the Spaniard can turn into a superstar.
Spurs lost goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to a hamstring injury in the 36th minute but bounced back when Lamela nodded in Kyle Walker’s cross.
“We need to learn from the errors and get it right for the next game”.
“The players made a big effort but as individuals not as a team”. Cameras captured the moment that the England worldwide appeared to punch himself in the face as his side went in search of a second equaliser that never came.
Koeman added: “I think it’s a fair result”.
“I’m very pleased about the performance”, said the manager.
Meanwhile, Swansea City won 1-0 at promoted Burnley courtesy of an 82nd-minute strike by Leroy Fer, who tapped in after debutant Fernando Llorente’s header was saved by Tom Heaton.
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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Whether new arrivals are signed off by the unpopular Allam family or the Chinese consortium now involved in takeover talks, is not important to Phelan as long as they come. If it wasn’t for an own goal by Sunderland debutante Paddy McNair, Guardiola’s start might not have been as compelling as it seemed.
