Hull 3 Everton 2: Early blitz by Tigers is too much for David Moyes
Hull held off an Everton fightback to continue their recent resurgence with a remarkable win. The Tigers had raced into a remarkable 3-0 first-half lead, but were pegged back.
26 Nov 2009 - 00:49:02
The sight of a glowering David Moyes a few yards away from a dancing Jimmy Bullard said everything. Everton were embarrassed while Hull's rested talisman could do a jig on the touchline.
No Bullard brought no problems for Hull. Everton were no-hopers for thefirst half, conceding to Stephen Hunt, Andy Dawson and DeanMarney. Defeated in the space of 30, devastating minutes, they weredamned by their manager's words half an hour after the final whistle.
That's Andy: Dawson celebrates scoring Hull's second
Conceding three goals to Manchester United at Old Trafford, as they did on Saturday, is one thing. Letting in three in the first half-hour against Hull is altogether more worrying.
As preparation for Sunday's Merseyside derby, it was terrible for Everton. As a game, it was superb, action-packed and riddled with errors, most of them defensive.
But Everton were abject, out-thought and outfought in a way that few of Moyes' teams are. They were flattered by the scoreline after being gifted two second-half goals by the calamitous Kamil Zayatte.
And the most withering appraisal came from their own manager. Moyes said: 'The team should fight from the first minute, not the 45th. The first thing to do as a player is to run around. I need to get more of them to do that.
'I didn't think [the defeat] was anything to do with confidence, it was endeavour and attitude, which Hull City showed.'
On the charge: Hull City's Stephen Hunt holds off Tim Cahill
After three successive top-six finishes, Moyes has lost six of his last eight games. He admits a relegation battle is a possibility.
'It could be,' he added. 'It'spartly to do with the injury list, but partly to do with individualperformances. I'm the one who takes responsibility.'
MATCH FACTSHULL CITY (4-4-1-1): Duke 6; McShane 6, Zayatte 4, Gardner 7, Dawson 7; Garcia 7 (Barmby 78min), Boateng 6, Marney 7, Hunt 8; Geovanni 7 (Kilbane 87); Altidore 8 (Vennegoor of Hesselink 76).Booked: Zayatte.
EVERTON (4-4-2): Howard 6; Neill 5, Yobo 4, Distin 5, Baines 6; Rodwell 5 (Jo 60, 5), Cahill 6, Heitinga 6, Pienaar 5; Saha 7, Yakubu 5 (Gosling 46, 6).Booked: Pienaar, Heitinga, Neill, Cahill.Man of the match: Stephen Hunt.Referee: Martin Atkinson.
Individually and collectively, Hull were terrific, surging forward with the sort of invention and inspiration they last displayed when they surged to third in the Barclays Premier League last autumn.
'It is nice to take seven points from nine,' said boss Phil Brown. The the pressure on him has eased considerably.
'It was delightful to see Hull playing fast, flowing, free football. Resting Jimmy was precautionary. But, without Jimmy Bullard, everyone showed that, if you are prepared to step up to the plate, you have a chance.'
And, without Bullard, Hull cast off the unwanted tag of a one-man team. Hunt was the catalyst, buzzing around the Everton defence, helping to create the opener, which he himself scored.
His cross looped off Joseph Yobo to the far post where excellent JozyAltidore beat Sylvain Distin and Leighton Baines to the ball. TimHoward blocked but Hunt thrashed the rebound into the net.
Triple jump: Hull City's Paul McShane (L) and Kamil Zayatte (R) challenge Everton's Tim Cahill
Another left-footer doubled the lead in similarly emphatic style. AfterGeovanni was fouled, Dawson took the resulting free kick. He curled itin perfectly from 25 yards.
The third was a combination of deflections and defensive disasters.Yobo attempted to clear with an overhead kick which fell to Hunt. Hiscross came off the outstretched leg of Distin to Marney.
Tim Cahill flung himself in the way of the resulting shot but onlysucceeded in applying a touch to take it past the helpless Howard togive Marney his first Premier League goal for five years. Hull, who hadonly scored eight goals in the rest of the season, now had eight inthree games.
Cue a celebrating Bullard and a scowling Moyes.
Then came a fortunate comeback. First Johnny Heitinga crossed and Zayatte slashed wildly at it, sending the ball into his own net. And Zayatte compounded that error bybringing down Louis Saha for the penalty the French striker converted.
'A lot of people might have been nervous at 3-2 but I wasn't unduly worried,' Brown added.
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