City kept just a second clean sheet in their last 26 home games
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
David Akintola’s strike on the half-hour sealed a terrific 1-0 win for Hull City over old rivals Sheffield United at the MKM Stadium on Saturday, to cap what has been a solid start to the new season.
Nine games in, the Tigers are handily placed in the middle of the table with 12 points and three off the top six, which represents a respectable opening, especially given the amount of changes and issues to overcome in the summer.
It was also the first time in five attempts that the Tigers have beaten the Steel City outfit on home soil. While Sergej Jakirovic’s men are looking up, United remain rooted to the foot of the table alongside bitter rivals Wednesday.
Here, City reporter Barry Cooper looks back on another major home success….
At long last
At half-time on Tuesday night with City 2-0 down after a horror show of a 45 minutes against PNE, you’d never have believed the Tigers would go on and get four points.
The comeback against Preston was superb, and it gave them major belief going into a game that they’ve struggled with historically. The character of the team has been shown in spades, and that should be a real source of encouragement.
A run of four straight defeats against United at the MKM Stadium was finally brought to an end with a battling win, and while this may not have been a vintage Blades outfit, it still remains a major scalp and one that should be celebrated.
McBurnie – again
He was the talk of the pre-match press conference in the Steel City, and while he didn’t get his goal against his former club, Oli McBurnie’s display was superb.
Chris Wilder’s assessment that his former son ‘didn’t do much’ was a tad harsh. He had more attempts at goal then any of the Blades’ forwards, and got through an incredible amount of work, especially defensively.
McBurnie has seven goals and three assists so far this season, which is clearly a terrific return, but it’s been his work for the team, often inside his own box, that has been hugely impressive.
Clean sheet delight
It’s been a long, long time coming. The first shut-out since the opening day at Coventry, and finally, they’ve stemmed the flow of goals going in their own net. They basically did to Sheffield United what they have done to so many in this league over the years. Scrap out a gritty 1-0.
Yes, the Blades lacked a cutting edge, but give credit for the way in which Jakirovic set his team up and the way his players implemented their plan. Charlie Hughes was back to his best and supported by John Egan, who celebrated his return to the Ireland squad in style.
On the flanks, Lewie Coyle and Ryan Giles were excellent, while in front of the four, Regan Slater delivered one of his best displays for some time. They’ve now proved that they can be defensively organised and keep goals out, the challenge is to replicate that with some regularity.
Ivor Pandur has had a difficult start to the season, but his penalty save from Harrison Burrows’ late spot-kick should do him the power of good.
Home comforts
It took until March for City to win three games at home and Jakirovic has cleared that hurdle four days into October at the fifth time of asking.
And in those three games, City have shown different strengths. From the swashbuckling chaos of the win over Oxford United, to the counter-attacking prowess in beating Southampton, and then the gritty, battling showing to see off United.
Suddenly, three wins and a draw from their opening five at home show things are turning around. Their only defeat was when the squad was ravaged by sickness. Arguably, their toughest test will come later this month when Leicester City come calling, but the visits of Charlton Athletic and Portsmouth are hugely winnable.
An unwanted distraction
Everything feels like it’s moving in the right direction for City, but the admission from Jakirovic about the situation with Kasey Palmer is unwelcome.
Clearly, there is some kind of issue with Palmer and the manager based on his comments about why the Jamaican wasn’t in the squad on Saturday.
City have got themselves a good dressing room with players seemingly all pulling in the right direction, so this issue needs to be nipped in the bud, quickly.
The next step
This success is their third win and third at home, so the challenge now is to start getting wins on the road. So far, they’ve been beaten at Bristol City and Watford, and claimed draws at Coventry City and Swansea City.
Last season, their home form was garbage, but on the road, City picked up some notable scalps, including Sheffield United and Sunderland, Millwall, QPR and Stoke City.
If the Tigers are to continue their fine start to the new season, then getting that first win on the road is important. They’ll have three chances to do it before the next break, starting at Birmingham City before trips to Derby County and Norwich City.
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