The Tigers produced a gritty display to earn a creditable draw against high quality opposition
A determined Hull City side ended their pre-season campaign with a battling 0-0 draw with Spanish La Liga outfit Getafe at the MKM Stadium.
City had to show a resolute side to their game, having been largely dominated by the outfit that finished 13th in Spain’s top tier last season, with their best chance coming inside the opening 10 minutes when Kyle Joseph headed over before Harry Vaughan skied one over late on.
In what was arguably their toughest test of pre-season, Sergej Jakirovic will have been encouraged by the way in which his side battled hard for their result and a clean sheet.
Attention now turns to the big kick-off at Coventry City next weekend and the Tigers will go into it with some belief and momentum after five wins and a draw from their final six summer outings.
By the time they go to Coventry, the Tigers will hope to know the outcome of their appeal against their three-window transfer ban, so the next week is big for the club in so many ways.
Jakirovic wasted no time in handing a start to John Lundstram, who went straight into the heart of the Tigers’ midfield, while Akin Famewo was named on the bench for the first time, joining Joel Ndala and trialist Brandon Williams. There was no place in the squad for Enis Destan following his arrival on Friday evening.
After a dominant opening five minutes without any threat, City should have gone in front through Kyle Joseph. Looking to ease his way into the box, Abu Kamara was sent tumbling, and from the free-kick, Kasey Palmer’s delivery was superb to pick out the head of Joseph to power over from eight yards out.
Palmer’s cross was inch-perfect and in truth, Joseph coming in should have hit the target at the very least and had he done so from such close range with that power, he probably scores.
Kasey Palmer delivered a couple of delicious back-to-back corners which caused havoc inside the Getafe box, but having cleared the second one, they broke and came close to opening the scoring. Adrian Liso’s delicious ball through the six-yard was begging to be turned home and at the back post, Borja Mayoral could only poke wide.
In the closing stages of the half, City began to ride their luck, largely of their own doing. Pandur’s crazy pass to Lundstram six yards out whilst being marked by two was an especially bizarre decision. Borja Mayoral couldn’t take advantage as Pandur made up for that brain freeze with a smart save, before he denied Mauro Arambarri moments later.
A fiesty friendly, which saw Domingos Duarte booked amid a flurry of niggly fouls, saw the visitors head off the bar with Pandur stranded from a corner, but City were able to get to the break with their clean sheet intact.
Jakirovic made a change at the interval with John Egan coming on in place of Charlie Hughes, who had spent the duration of the half-time break doing shuttle runs.
Immediately from their kick-off, Liso raced forward and shot over from the edge of the box, and from that restart, Pandur almost gifted the visitors the opener. Yet again, his kamikaze kick out put Lundstram in all kinds of bother, but again, Getafe failed to take advantage and City escaped.
It’s not even that Lundstram is new to the squad. The quality of Pandur’s passes into him were just not good enough. There’s trying to beat the press, and then there’s playing with little common sense.
Pandur’s nightmare with his kicking continued, as he placed an aimless ball into the middle of the park to be collected by the royal blue of the visitors, and thankfully, it came to nothing. Watching Tigers fans will be hoping the stopper is getting it out of his system before the big kick-off.
Crooks then blazed over the bar, leaning back from 12 yards out, as the visitors made a flurry of changes before the hour mark. On came Christian Uche, Mario Martin, and Coba de Costa, while Jakirovic responded with a bunch of his own, shortly followed by a debut for Akin Famewo, Pharrell Brown, and Calvin Okike – another from the academy production line. For Getafe, Alex Sancris replaced Mayoral in attack.
Joel Ndala, Harry Vaughan, Tyrell Sellars-Fleming, Regan Slater, Cathal McCarthy, and Brandon Williams all came on a minute after the hour, replacing Tinsdale, Crooks, Drameh, Joseph, Palmer, and Lundstram.
After more Pandur pandemonium with his kicking, in what was one of the worst displays with a goalkeeper’s feet for some time, and a vital interception from Egan, City could have won it in the final moments after Vaughan curled over the bar from just inside the box.
Jakirovic will surely look back on this as a positive summer, despite all the chaos that has been going on around him, and now for the real stuff.
City: Pandur, Giles, Hughes, Ajayi, Drameh, Lundstram, Crooks, Palmer, Tinsdale, Joseph, Kamara. Subs: Phillips, Vaughan, Egan, Ndala, Famewo, Slater, Williams, Brown, Sellars-Fleming, Okike, McCarthy.
Getafe: Soria, Iglesias, Domingos, Rico, Davinchi, Arambarri, Milla, Femenia, Munoz, Liso, Mayoral. Subs: Medenica (GK), Martin, Sola, Uche, Sancris, Gonzalez, da Costa, Surkov.
Booked: Arambarri, Duarte
Referee: Oliver Langford
Attendance: 3,918
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