Tigers sparkle in the rain to hammer Saints
HOT STREAK: Oli McBurnie, No 9, celebrates his third league goal of the season. Pictures courtesy of Hull City
Hull City 3 - 1 Southampton
Sky Bet Championship
MKM Stadium
Attendance: 22,085
By Sam Hawcroft, Hull City Correspondent
Two home debut goals from Kyle Joseph and John Lundstram, along with a third league strike for Oli McBurnie, gave Hull City a comprehensive victory over Southampton at the MKM Stadium.
On a squally, grey afternoon (not long now before we can call it “Hull Fair weather”, is it?), the damp mood was lifted pre-match by the sight of Geovanni – the Tigers’ legendary number 10 – walking out on to the turf, arms aloft.
The Brazilian, who scored Hull City’s first-ever Premier League goal in 2008 and went on to become a cult hero, drew a roar that went some way to warming up the home fans before kick-off.
There was also a sizeable following from the south coast, Southampton’s travelling support filling the north-east corner and making themselves heard throughout the opening stages.
There was just one change from the hard-fought 2-2 draw at Swansea a week earlier, Mohammed Belloumi restored to the starting line-up after more than ten months out with an ACL injury.
City started brightly, pressing Saints from the off. In the third minute a great ball from Ryan Giles found McBurnie in the middle, only for a last-ditch sliding challenge to deny him. A few minutes later at the other end, a long-range Ryan Manning free-kick was blocked by the Tigers’ ‘wall’ as Southampton started to gain a bit more of a foothold.
Belloumi then broke free on the counter, played in by McBurnie, racing down the right, but his cutback towards Joseph – with Joe Gelhardt and Amir Hadžiahmetović also in the mix – fizzled out, a promising break wasted.
Like the dreary conditions outside the stadium, the fare inside was in need of brightening as the 20-minute mark came and went. But in the 22nd minute the game sparked into life.
McBurnie played in skipper Lewie Coyle on the right, and his floating cross found Gelhardt, whose header was beaten away by Gavin Bazunu. The rebound bounced awkwardly, thudded into Joseph’s chest and over the line. Joseph might not have known a great deal about his first goal at the MKM, not that he’ll remotely care!
Southampton almost hit back on the half-hour, Damion Downs firing narrowly wide, but as half-time neared it was City who looked more likely to add to their lead.
Then a worry. With just minutes of the half remaining, Belloumi hobbled, then sat down on the turf, clutching his right leg. His afternoon was over. On came Darko Gyabi, making his home debut, just before the board went up for added time.
Southampton emerged after the break with intent. Within a minute they had forced a corner, and in the 50th minute a ball to the back post was only just cleared away from Tom Fellows. A deflected Jack Stephens shot went wide as the Saints fans in the north-east corner raised the volume, sensing an equaliser was surely on the cards.
For a good ten or 15 minutes, City barely got out of their own half. McBurnie finally offered respite with a run down the right, appealing – along with the South Stand – for a corner that never came. But the big man would soon have his say.
On 59 minutes, City pieced together a move of real quality. John Egan headed clear from the Tigers’ box, and Saints could only put it into the path of Gelhardt, who played wide to Coyle. Another superb cross dropped into the box – McBurnie headed it into the path of Lundstram, who arrived to lash a peach of a finish into the net from ten yards.
A fine team goal and a thunderous strike for his first in black and amber.
Two minutes later, Regan Slater and David Akintola replaced Hadžiahmetović and Gelhardt. Saints, though, refused to go quietly, but Manning could only put a free-kick over the bar to howls of derision – from both sets of fans.
But on 72 minutes the MKM erupted again. Taylor Harwood-Bellis fouled Joseph and was booked, gifting City a free-kick wide on the left. Giles swung it in perfectly, and McBurnie rose highest, thumping home a brilliant header.
From there City surged forward, Gyabi forcing a corner with a rasping shot. This was the Tigers’ day, there was no doubt about that now.
Joseph, who had taken a knock, was replaced on 82 minutes by Enis Destan, while Gavin Bazunu denied McBurnie at the near post a minute later. Ivor Pandur, at the other end, clutched a tame Harwood-Bellis header in the 85th minute – a reminder that, for all Saints’ earlier pressure, the City keeper had enjoyed a pretty quiet afternoon.
By the time Pandur plucked an 89th-minute corner out of the sky, the once-vocal north-east corner had thinned dramatically, many of Southampton’s followers heading for an early exit down the M1.
But those fans missed their side’s lone bright spot – a consolation deep into stoppage time. Giles’ short headed clearance fell kindly for Ryan Fraser, who nodded across for Adam Armstrong. Unmarked, he chested down and rifled in a powerful left-foot shot to deny City their clean sheet.
Mightily annoying, yes, but it couldn’t take the shine off a fine result. Against a former Premier League side, and after recent games where City had looked defensively vulnerable – with illness having swept through the camp before the Blackburn defeat – this was just what the doctor ordered.