The Tigers ended their two-game losing run with a battling away point
Barry is the Hull City correspondent, and previously covered Nottingham Forest for the Nottingham Post/Nottinghamshire Live. Barry has reported on Hull City’s League One title success and Championship campaigns
Hull City’s last-gasp salvage act ensured they left Swansea City with a point in their pocket after what turned into an enthralling 2-2 draw in South Wales.
A dour first half was brought to life when Zan Vipotnik crunched in the opener, only for Oli McBurnie to equalise against his former side five minutes later on the stroke of the break.
Ronald was given the freedom of the penalty area to make it 2-1 before the hour, but John Egan’s volley seven minutes into added time ensured Sergej Jakirovic’s Tigers left with a point their second half display richly deserved.
Here, Tigers reporter Barry Cooper looked back on a point gained in the principality….
A line in the sand
After successive defeats, and poor ones at that, it was vital City got something from this trip away from home and a stadium they rarely enjoy any success at.
Going into Southampton on Saturday on the back of three straight losses would have been a major setback and a real potential for that to become four, but the resilience and character to fight back and get something is a huge positive. The goal was a product of their perseverance and quality in the final third, and was nothing more than they deserved.
A point away from home anywhere in the Championship is usually viewed as a good one, and this should be too. It ends the run of defeats and the manner of it should breed some confidence.
Fox in the box
City haven’t had a player like Oli McBurnie since they returned to the Championship. The classic poacher in between the posts and his goal against his former club was another example of why the powers that be worked so hard to get him through the door.
Not only was his finish from Ryan Giles’ cross expert, his movement and hold-up play were generally good and gave City a focal point in the top third of the pitch. He was far more involved in the play than Zan Vipotnik, who scored an equally good goal to open the scoring at the other end.
That’s three goals to his name in the first month of the season and you fancy more will start to follow with the fitter and stronger he gets, coupled with players like Giles understanding his runs.
Midfield worries
Amir Hadziahmetovic looked bright on his debut, and some of his ball work was good. That was epitomised by his wonderful sweeping pass out to Giles, who delivered a terrific ball for McBurnie to score.
As the game wore on, he tired which is understandable given it’s his first game of the season, and first in the Championship which is a world away from Turkish football.
Darko Gyabi looked bright when he came off the bench in the final stages, and it will be interesting to see what he looks like once he gets more minutes.
The big thing for City is to get some control into games from the engine room, and when they do that, they might start to be able to cut out some of the sloppy goals being conceded.
Cut out the errors
As mentioned above, the lack of control in the middle of the park is at times contributing to their downfall. That said, there was more of it against Swansea compared to the shambles at Ashton Gate.
Frustratingly, the team limited the hosts to just two efforts on target from their nine overall attempts. The problem is both efforts ended up in the back of the net and both were entirely avoidable. That’s now 11 goals conceded in the four games since a clean sheet at Coventry City on opening day, so it’s obvious where the improvement must come.
Whether it’s a lack of concentration, or communication, only the players know, but if they can tighten and sharpen up collectively as a defensive unit, then there’s every reason to be optimistic.
Attacking excitement
For all of their defensive worries, the Tigers look like a completely different beast going forward. Egan’s goal came at the end of a period where Jakirovic’s side battered on the Swansea door. Chance after chance came, repelled by in-form goalkeeper Lawrence Vigrouroux, but at least they were creating.
In the past two away games, the Tigers have created 35 chances, which is some progress, although they’d want more than four goals to show for it.
Jakirovic has got a really exciting attacking unit with McBurnie, Joe Gelhardt, Mo Belloumi, Liam Millar, Joel Ndala, David Akintola, Enis Destan and Kyle Joseph – Destan incidentally showed some real signs of encouragement during his short cameo.
If he can get that defensive setup right, then with the attacking prowess, this team can continue to grow and progress into an exciting one to watch.
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