Hull City 3 QPR 0: No dramas as The Tigers finally win at home

I don’t only bother with a match report when City win but it is a far more motivating and enjoyable to write about a victory which is why there have been so few for a team that have only won away from home in the last three and half months. 

City welcomed out of form QPR to the MKM Stadium but given two of the recent home draws have been against troubled Blackpool and Huddersfield – that was of little comfort.

City: Ingram, Christie, Elder, Jones, McLoughlin, Seri, Docherty, Slater, Tufan, Connolly, Estupiñán.

The headline team news was the absence of Jacob Greaves, expected since Liam Rosenior’s press conference, which ended a run of 110 consecutive league appearances. Losing our best defender was a blow, but Elder deputised brilliantly at left back while McLoughlin played very well, for the most part, at centre half.

The Tigers started the game well and looked confident despite the troubles at home in the last few months. Oscar, Connolly and Slater worked hard off the ball but pressed smartly, allowing QPR’s defenders to have the ball at times and dropping to deny the very quick front three – Lowe, Roberts and Adomah – and the brilliant Illias Chair any space in behind. While remaining committed to playing out from the back, there was a noticeable change in approach when short, forward passes weren’t on with McLoughlin and Ingram looking to go diagonal earlier and it was effective with Christie a particularly effective outball.

An early chance fell to Connolly as the ball broke of a long ball and his curling effort missed the far post by less than a yard. He’d barely got over the disappointment when Docherty found Christie, who stumbled through several chances and the last of them only diverted the ball to Connolly who opened his account for City with a good, if deflected, finish [1-0].

City didn’t kick on as they’d have liked but held the advantage. Ingram was practically a defensive midfielder at times as they controlled the game. They had great moments too. Seri produced a filfthy backheel to control and pass a ball dropping out of the air in one movement but Slater couldn’t slide through Oscar. A superb first touch from Connolly allowed him to release a rampaging Elder who found Docherty but he shot over. Christie fired another cross/shot that the keeper saved and the rebound was taken off Oscar’s toe.

Chair was quieter than usual but turned Christie inside out before his cross was headed down and into Ingram’s hands. He then took a free kick that looked for all the world was beating Ingram, who’d taken a step forward, only for a big fist to punch it over the bar. As QPR applied a bit of pressure, McLoughlin won three impressive and important headers in just a couple of minutes.

Rosenior picked a well balanced side. It was spearheaded by Oscar, accommodated Tufan, who might produce a moment of magic, was offered pace by Connolly’s inclusion and had the hard-working trio of Seri, Slater and Docherty at it’s heart. The back four, despite the absence of Greaves, were still huge, mobile and superbly organised. There has been some talk of leaving Slater out online in the last couple of weeks but decisions on “resting” players are made on huge amounts of data, not the old eye test, and his numbers are clearly excellent. His passing was pretty sloppy in the first half but you can’t argue with the amount of ground he covers and the amount of running he does at pace. The same is true of Docherty.

Three minutes were added for an injury to QPR’s left back, Paal. Though genuinely injured, he was sent back on by the physio, whereupon he immediately sat down to buy time for a sub to get ready. This is the sort of cynical nonsense that kills the game. He was lucky to escape a yellow card.

Half time: Hull City 1 QPR 0

QPR made changes at half-time with powerful youngster Sinclair Armstrong leading the line. They were on top for the first 15 mins or so of the half without doing much damage. McLoughlin got outmuscled on the City left but a ball across the middle found Jones perfectly positioned to clear. Otherwise the visitors dominated possession, with City happy to drop deep and without a way through.

Seri picked up an incredible amount of second balls throughout the game and just after the hour he fought for another one deep in their half, won it and slid through Connolly, looking a bit offside, who in turn found Tufan whose cross was smashed into his own net by Dickie [2-0].

Almost immediately, Seri launched a great ball over the top that sent Connolly racing away and he finished easily [3-0]. QPR defenders were left praying for offside again but Connolly’s electric pace had just done for them. It was a tremendous pass and run but if we’d conceded the goal, similar to the one Ross Stewart scored for Sunderland recently, we’d have been fuming!

City fans sang “You’re gonna cry in a minute” at the away fans. In the last seconds, with the QPR manager, Critchley, inexplicably fuming about a throw-in decision while 0-3 down, the song got another rendition in his direction. Funny.

A far post corner on 71 mins was headed towards goal by Dickie but stopped excellently by Ingram. As the ball was cleared downfield, Seri was chasing down the goalkeeper. He’s everywhere. A young lad in front of me suggested Ingram was “prime Manuel Neuer”. That might be taking it a bit far but he’s in excellent form and his distribution gets better and better. It’s harsh that he’s seemingly going to find himself behind another loanee if Karl Darlow joins from Newcastle.

Rosenior chucked on both Ryans, Woods and Longman, with fifteen minutes left and afforded himself the chance to rest Seri. Coyle, Smith and Simons came on later. City’s hunger to chase and shutdown the ball in the last ten minutes, despite the three goal cushion, was really impressive. The subs helped but no-one showed more sheer effort than Regan Slater. Rest, my arse.

Full time: Hull City 3 QPR 0

Hurrah! A home win! Also a really impressive performance for the fans at the MKM to enjoy. It’s been a long time coming. City have another chance next week against another out of form side in Cardiff City. Is momentum building or is this just an Indian, er, winter? Who knows but this game was certainly enjoyable.

Before that game, there’s the small matter of the transfer window to see out. It’s been a decent month so far with players going out as well as coming in. Some of the real dross signed in the last two summers have been binned. There’s likely to be more ins and outs before Tuesday but there’s not too much required. Ebiowei, Traore and Pelkas are close to fitness and Tetteh will be back in another couple of games. That’s four big additions to today’s squad. I’d like to see a left-back come in to challenge Elder, allowing Greaves to play centre-half. I’d have gone for a goalkeeper to back-up Ingram, but we clearly need one. I don’t think we require too much more given the squad is still hovering around 30 senior players.

You’d always take a player who’ll improve you at the top end of the pitch, where it matters. It looked for all the world today that in Aaron Connolly, The Tigers already have done.