Tigers Bare Their Fangs At Playoff Rivals: Coventry (a)
The Tigers maintain their outside chance of making the playoffs with a massive win in the Midlands.
Hull City claimed a massive win at the CBS arena last night in a vintage display in which they gave it all and came away with +3 points. In a game with plenty of edge, the out and out strikers shone and made the telling difference. Read how it played out and what the playoff chase state of play is below.
The Tigers kicked off against a certainly weakened Coventry City as their heroes from their incredible FA Cup semi final were largely rested. Hull City capitalised and started the stronger creating the most attacks and shots on goal.
Jaden Philogene opened the scoring after some smart team build up play started and assisted by Fabio Carvalho. Jaden cut inside onto his stronger right foot aiming for the bottom left corner but fired straight at the Coventry keeper who got himself in a mess and the ball sailed straight through him to ripple the back of the net.
Coventry City then equalised soon after with their first shot on goal, a Kasey Palmer wondergoal central free kick that curled into the top left corner beating Allsop all ends up.
The benefits of a strong direct running presence up front shone through when Liam Delap was brought down in the Coventry area. After Philogene walked away from the contentious penalty, Fabio reaped the rewards firing the ball into the top left with a consummate finish. His over the top celebrations earnt himself, Jaden and two Coventry players yellow cards leaving the stage set for an eventful second half.
Coventry brought on their potent duo of Ellis Simms and Haji Wright and drew first blood in the second period with Bobby Thomas heading in at the back post with their second shot on target all evening just before the hour mark.
Hull City rode the Coventry storm and pressure well. Then two minutes after coming on Noah Ohio showed his pace and strikers instinct to pounce after a Seri pass went all the way through. The Coventry defender did not get enough on his back pass and Ohio reached the ball first to tap in his second of the season from 6 yards out under the keeper.
(Credit: Hull City Football Club, https://images.webapi.gc.hullcityfcservices.co.uk/fit-in/800x800/57eed3f0-027a-11ef-bfab-db9800864c98.jpg
Largely down to some skilful timewasting from the East Yorkshiremen, Hull had to survive 8 minutes of added on time repelling the Coventry onslaught. Ryan Allsop made two important saves in quick succession with Hull City holding out for a potentially massive 3 points, keeping their playoff hopes alive until the weekend at the very least.
Hull City started the game like they have so many this season. On top, in command but not up on the scoreboard. Against a perhaps weakened Coventry attack they looked like they needed to capitalise on their start and they eventually did with a good passing move finished off by some atrocious goalkeeping from Coventry.
They were unlucky to be pegged back by an incredible free kick and can be at little fault when conceding a goal of such individual quality, 9 out of 10 free kicks from that range must be blazed over the bar, let alone rifled into the top corner.
The men in amber showed their persistence when Liam Delap earned a penalty. Fabio Carvalho finally put the recent penalty miss curse out of every Hull City fans mind with his convincing spot kick. Hull City would be level with Norwich and West Brom or even ahead of them if they had a consistent taker from 12 yards in the latter half of this season. As a quantity that they can largely control the outcome of with clear coaching and confident penalty takers, it seems an obvious weakness in an otherwise strong goal conversion campaign.
The inevitable sucker punch came with the Coventry equaliser but I think great credit has to be given to the quality of the Tigers defence to nullify Coventry City’s attacks and reduce them to 3 shots on target in the entire ninety plus stoppage time.
What impressed me most about last night was Noah Ohio taking his moment and offering a glimpse of what he will go on to do in his career. His mindfulness to not give up and latch onto the loose ball with quick reactions, demonstrated the powerful striker with a poacher’s instinct that he is capable of becoming an even better version of, in the years to come. He, the out and out number 9, won all 3 points with a moment of instinct to score a vital goal for the team. He has helped keep the playoff dream alive in the most Hull City way possible.
Allsop who has received criticism that he may or may not deserve as the season has been scrutinised in recent weeks by fans and pundits, made two terrific saves at the end, proving it was a fantastic performance from back to front for the Tigers.
Remaining Fixtures:
Hull City:
Ipswich (h) 8pm Saturday
Plymouth (a) final day
Norwich City:
Swansea (h) 3pm Saturday
Birmingham (a) final day
West Brom:
Sheffield Wednesday (a) 3pm Saturday
Preston (h) final day
With both Norwich and West Brom stuttering form wise I would say both have at least one game that could be problematic as both Birmingham and Sheffield Wednesday are in the thick of the relegation battle which can throw out shock results and upsets galore at the end of a season.
Whilst goal difference is against Hull City, depending on how results go on Saturday the late kick off at home to automatic promotion chasing Ipswich could represent a season defining opportunity. A loss or draw in the earlier kick offs for either of the teams above them could start the draining psychological mind games that could drag Hull into 6th or 5th with a big chunk of luck and some individual heroics over the next two weeks. UTT