Up and down month for Hull
It has been an up and down month for Hull, but we are still safely placed 8th in the table, which is very pleasing.
Europa League:
We had our final game and had to get something from our away meeting with Fiorentina. However, it was not to be. Two Babacar goals sealed our fate, as we were outplayed, losing 2-0. With Dnipro holding on to a draw away at Zulte Waregem, this meant that we crash out of the Europa League, coming 3rd in our group with 8 points.
Premier League:
We had a tough fixture list this month, but came away from 5 tough games with 7 points. Not bad!
Burnley - Hull 0-2 WIN
A solid team performance saw us beat a high-performing Burnley away. A rare goal from Huddlestone, and a goal from signing-of-the-year candidate Blanco gave us 3 important points.
Hull - Man City 2-1 WIN
We faced the league leaders at the perfect time. Gazzaniga in goal and a CB pairing of Sagna and Adarabioyo meant we had good chances of scoring a couple. Another Blanco goal gave us an early lead, but Bony equalized after 38 minutes. However, we kept pushing on and created more chances than the Champions, which is very pleasing. Phenomenon Aboubakar gave us a deserved win with his 56 minute strike. City might have regretted some of their summer business as ***** Caballero put on a MoM performance during the last minutes to give us all three points.
Liverpool - Hull 2-1 LOSS
Hull City would normally not expect anything from Anfield, but this game left a sour taste in our mouth. We were the better side and created the better chances. Liverpool only had 2 shots on goal during the whole game but Navas and Balotelli were more clinical than our strikers. A Moreno own goal, and Henderson getting sent off made it exciting, but no points despite a very good performance.
Hull - Arsenal 0-3 LOSS
We didn't stand a chance in this game. The Gunners played us off the park and performed very well. Zouma got sent off after 36 minutes, and we were left with almost an hour 10 vs 11. Two Özil goals and one from new signing Konoplyanka meant Arsenal went back to London with all three points.
West Bromwich - Hull 2-2 DRAW
We were up 2-0 with 15 minutes left to play in this one, so in theory we should be annoyed to lose two points. But in truth, we didn't deserve to win this game. WBA were at least on par with us, and a draw seemed fair all in all. Pleasing to see a goal from Aluko as well as another goal from Aboubakar.
All in all, a decent month all things considered. Now we head into January, which could be more problematic than expected. We have three key players heading to Africa for the ANC, so that should make things more challenging. We might see Chairman Chris Kamara jump into his business suit and start negotiating. Rumours say that the following Hull players are available for offers:
Mohamed Diame - Energetic CM
Ahmed Elmohamady - Versatile RB/RM/RW
Nikica Jelavic - Strong Targetman
Abel Hernandez - Quick Poacher
David Meyler - Good allround CM
Liam Rosenior - Well rounded RB/LB
For loan:
Gary Mackay-Steven - Technical Winger
Robbie Brady - Quick Left Winger
