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.