Yes, it’s another draw and puts us joint-sixth with Norwich; however, it was the best home performance I have seen all season, and it was against league leaders Leicester City, who have only lost three away games since the start of the season. I could not point out any faults within the system: our passing was pinpoint accurate; our press was high; we were not scared, and every player had, not just high energy levels (Rosenior did not make any substitutions, despite the game going on for nearly 100 minutes) but a great attitude towards the game. It’s a shame we do not have a good finisher and that we did not do this from the beginning.
I think every Hull fan was not confident heading into this game, not least because they were top of the league, but we seem to play poorly at home, and this is a team that will definitely take advantage of that. But I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief after this game and hopefully it is our turning point.
Rosenior made two changes to the starting eleven that faced Birmingham in mid-week: Tufan and Morton were replaced by Slater and Zaroury. That meant we lined up as follows, in a 4-2-3-1 formation: Ryan Allsop, in goal; Lewie Coyle, Alfie Jones, Jacob Greaves and Ryan Giles holding the back line; Jean Seri and Regan Slater anchoring the ship; Philogene and Zaroury manning the wings; Carvalho leading the flock and Omur just behind him.
The game could not have started better as in the 6th minute, the referee pointed to the spot after Slater made a darting run down the middle of the park and into the box, but before he could get his shot off, he was nudged in the back by Stephy Mavididi. Carvalho was put up to the job, however, his strike was saved excellently by their keeper, Hermansen. He could not do anything about the save, but it is another chance we have squandered.
Not to worry, though, as he was able to make amends for his miss just 10 minutes later in the 16th minute; The Foxes were playing the ball out from the back and due to our high press, we were able to force Faes to play a loose ball to the keeper, which Carvalho was able to intercept, keep his composure and slot it under the keeper into the back of the net. Absolute limbs in the North Stand and something for us to hang on to.
Then, par for the course, the visitors did what any team top of the league would do: take control and turn up the gas. In the 20th minute, we were let off after Dewsbury-Hall’s strike from the edge of the box flew past every defender and Allsop, before crashing against the post and cleared away. This gave some spark to Leicester, who eventually managed to get their goal, which was coming.
In the 31st minute, Barrot was released into the box, but was taken off the ball from what looked to be a clean tackle from Seri, however, the referee had the wrong idea and pointed to the spot. Vardy was up for the task and blasted it towards goal, which took a slight deflection off Allsop’s fingertips and into the back of the net. That’s how you take a penalty and of course he came over to us and had a little bit of banter (we were slagging him off all game).
Fortunately, this did not dampen our spirits and we finished the half off on a high: keeping the ball well; blocking off any attacks from Leicester and keeper a high press. We were also playing more balls over the top, which did not work, however, most of the time, we won the ball from a duel. A slight change in tactics and a similar style to the way we played against Southampton allowed us to go into the break square.
The second period mirrored that of the first; we were the dominant side and looked the more eager side out of the two. Don’t get me wrong, Leicester did play some great football, but considering where they are in the table, I would have thought they would have put up a better fight. Last season, the league leaders, Burnley smashed us 3-1. It just shows how much we have improved.
It was us who drew first blood in the second half, with Zaroury putting us ahead on the hour mark; a quick and neat counterattack allowed us to get the ball to Seri, who laid it on for Zaroury to strike a low and powerful shot towards the far corner from outside the box, which made the net ripple. Then, disaster struck.
Just as our fans were getting back into their seats, The Foxes kicked off quickly, made a few passes forward and found Fatawu, who released Vardy into the box, and he was able to smash the ball into the back of the net. This happened within a blink of an eye. I had no clue what happened: one second I was sitting down, the next I heard cheers from the far corner of the stadium. I would not put it down to us dropping off, it was how good they were. Luckily, they did not do this all game.
The rest of the half was an awesome battle, with both teams having plenty of good chances, however, we were not clinical enough and our defence and Allsop were brilliant at snuffing out any danger from them. Thus, both teams equalled each other out and the points were shared.
The only frustrating aspect about the game was that Greaves was booked in the first half, which means our best centre-back will be banned for two games and will not be able to feature in our crucial game against Leeds on April 1st. Nevertheless, we have a great back-up, McLoughlin, who will be able to get some game time. Other than that, we should be good to go.
I brought my sister to this game, and it is safe to say, they did not let her down. We now have a three week break (the players will need it after playing through the whole match) and when we return we face Stoke at home and then Leeds away, which I should be going to. Let’s hope we play just as good as we did today, and playoffs will be no problem.