City’s four-game winning run was ended with an MKM Stadium stalemate
Kieran Dowell pushes forward against Watford(Image: Focus Images)
Hull City and Watford played out a 0-0 draw as the Tigers moved a point closer to the automatic promotion places, and opened up a nine-point gap to the chasing play-off pack.
It was a drab first half on a freezing, wet evening in East Yorkshire with City second best for much of the contest in the opening 45 minutes, though they did fashion their best chance at the end of the first half through Charlie Hughes.
Watford probably had the best chance of the second half when Mamadou Doumbia sliced wide with the goal gaping, with City struggling to create anything of real note.
Here’s how Tigers reporter Barry Cooper rated the players under the MKM Stadium lights on Tuesday evening….
Ivor Pandur: Made a couple of really smart saves in a first half where his side gave the ball away cheaply. A couple of nervy moments in the second half. 7/10
Matty Jacob: A first Tigers start in a year for the left-back and started well with two meaty challenges inside the opening few minutes. Opened up a couple of times. 6/10
Charlie Hughes: Came close to opening the scoring right at the end of the first half with a good header. Huge block just after the hour when his team needed it. A really good display for the most part. 8/10
John Egan: No shortage of headers away in a first half where the away side dominated. Turned half a chance into the side-netting at the start of the second half. Like Hughes, stuck at his task well. 7/10
Lewie Coyle: Pinned back for much of the first period, did manage to get forward on a couple of occasions. Booked in the second half for halting a Hornets attack. 7/10
Regan Slater: Plenty of chasing about, but lacked the support of those around him early on. Forced a smart save early in the second from Selvik. More in control in the second period. 6.5/10
Amir Hadziahmetovic: Looked too passive in the opening stages, couldn’t stamp his authority on it. Not really his night, truth be told. 6/10
Yu Hirakawa: A full home debut and was in the action early, almost carving out a chance before going down inside the box. Always a willing runner. A solid full debut on a difficult night for his side. 6/10
Joe Gelhardt: Turned wide early from a neat corner move before fading. Lovely free-kick in at the end of the first half for Hughes. Still looks like a player getting back to fitness. 6/10
Kieran Dowell: Like Hirakawa, made a full home debut and aside from ball trying to feed McBurnie, wasn’t in the game in the first half. Neat flick in the second fashioned a moment for Slater. 6/10
Oli McBurnie: Battled hard up front alone for little reward, and equally little service. That’s becoming a bit of a concern in the last couple of games, the lack of service coming his way. 6/10
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Subs:
John Lundstram (for Amir 60): Booked late on for stopping a Watford attack. Still doesn’t look all that comfortable, which is to be expected. 5/10
Lewis Koumas (on for Dowell 60): Couldn’t really get into the game in the 30 minutes or so he was on the pitch. 5/10
Ryan Giles (for Jacob 73): Made his return after a month or so out. Booked almost instantly for fouling Baah, but he needed to do it in fairness. 6/10
Liam Millar (for Gelhardt 73): Blazed over from six yards out, though he will have been relieved to have seen the offside flag go up. 5/10
Kyle Joseph (for Yu 82): The game was passing by, but his energy and tenacity in the final stages was useful. 5/10
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