City’s hopes of a rare Watford win were ended by a poor second half showing
Hull City’s defensive issues were again on show as they threw away a 1-0 lead at half-time to lose 2-1 to a Watford side who were booed off at the break, and their supporters calling for their manager to be sacked.
A fairly uneventful opening 25 minutes were lit up when Oliver McBurnie scored with a terrific near-post finish from Cody Drameh’s ball in, his third in as many games, and he almost grabbed a brace in the first half when his curling effort cannoned back off the post.
City were poor early in the second half and were pegged back when Imran Louza angled in from the edge of the box to draw the hosts level on the hour.
It got even worse for the Tigers with just over 10 minutes to go when Vivaldo Semedo glanced in a header at the near post to give the hosts a 2-1 lead and from there, they couldn’t fight back.
Here’s how Tigers reporter Barry Cooper rated the players at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon….
Ivor Pandur: Called into action early to make a smart block to deny Ngakia from close range and came for a big corner punch when City were under a bit of pressure. Could he have done better with the first? 6/10
Ryan Giles: Fashioned a chance for Drameh with one of his trademark crosses from out wide. Booked for a challenge in the first period. 6/10
Charlie Hughes: Made two really important blocks in the first half from rare Watford attacks. Will be annoyed in standing off Louza for the equaliser. 6/10
John Egan: Solid enough in the first period. Got caught out up the pitch but raced back to win a terrific sliding challenge. Let the ball bounce for the first and that’s always dangerous. 6/10
Lewie Coyle: Solid in the first period with the lively Ngakia to contend with and looked bright. Did what he needed to. Booked in added time for a foul on Baah. 6/10
Cody Drameh: Back in the side after a couple of games on the bench and deployed on the right side of midfield, and had a shaky start up against Ngakia. Grew into it and teed up McBurnie for the opener. Should have made it 2-0 from Giles’ cross. Booked early in the second for trying to exchange shirts with Ngakia. 6/10
Amir Hadziahmetovic: Had City’s first shot with a volley from Ryan Giles’ corner deflected wide. Very controlled in the first period, but couldn’t impact as much in the second period. 6/10
John Lundstram: Booked 11 minutes in for a strong challenge on Petris right in front of the dugouts, although it looked on first glance like he won the ball. Not effective in the second half as City lost their way. 6/10
Kyle Joseph: His gallop through midfield teed up McBurnie to hit the post, before his shot was blocked and he was flagged for offside. Couldn’t get into the second half. 6/10
Joe Gelhardt: Industrious in the first half, with much of his work done outside the box in trying to win the ball from the press. Couldn’t get into the second period. 6/10
Oli McBurnie: Superb finish to fire City a goal in front after 25 minutes, turning in first-time at the near post. Hit the post with a wonderful curling effort. Edged out for the equalsing goal. 6/10
Subs:
Darko Gyabi (for Amir 72): Looked to have one promising one towards the box before the ball hit his heel and he lost it. 5/10
Regan Slater (for Gelhardt 72): Couldn’t get on the ball after coming on as City chased for a way back into it. 5/10
David Akintola (for Drameh 84): Got on the ball a bit but couldn’t really make anything of note happen. Booked for a hopeless challenge in added time afters seeing a shot saved. 5/10
Kasey Palmer (for Lundstram 84): Little impact, with the Tigers unable to get on the ball in areas they could cause damage. 5/10
Enis Destan (for Joseph 87): Won a header at the back post but it came off his shoulder and into the hands of Baxter. 5/10
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