Премьер лигийн шинэ улирлын эхний тойрогт Халл Сити талбайдаа Манчестер Юнайтедыг 2:0-ийн харьцаатай хожиж, гайхалтай эхлэл хийлээ.
Сергей Якировичийн удирдсан Халл Сити 5-4-1 хувилбараар тоглож, 29 хувийн бөмбөг эзэмшилттэйгээр өрсөлдөгчийнхөө довтолгооныг амжилттай хаасан байна. Тоглолтын 17 дахь минутад булангийн цохилтын дараа Семи Аджайи гоол оруулж тооны харьцааг нээсэн бол 38 дахь минутад Реган Слэйтерийн чөлөөт цохилтоос ирсэн дамжуулалтыг Нобел Менди мөргөж, багийнхаа хоёр дахь гоолыг бүртгүүлэв.
Майкл Каррикийн удирдсан Манчестер Юнайтед хамгаалалтын нягт бүтэцтэй өрсөлдөгчийн эсрэг тоглолтын турш хүндрэлтэй тулгарч, бөмбөг эзэмшилтийн давуу талыг ашиглаж чадсангүй. Ялангуяа талбайн төвд Юри Тилеманс болон Андрей Сантос нарын тоглолт Халл Ситигийн хатуу хамгаалалтад боогдож, улмаар 67 дахь минутад тэднийг сэлгээгээр сольсон юм.
Тоглолтын дараа Майкл Каррик баг нь өөр өөр тактикийн эсрэг тоглохдоо асуудалтай байгааг хүлээн зөвшөөрч, үүнд хариулт олох шаардлагатайг онцоллоо. Харин Халл Ситигийн хувьд өөрийн талбайдаа тактикийн хувьд уян хатан, хамгаалалтын нягт байдлаа хадгалж, сөрөг довтолгоогоор үр дүнд хүрсэн нь Премьер лигт эргэн ирсэн анхны тоглолтын гол онцлог байв.
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For an opening-game upset of the season, Hull City’s win at home against 20-time champions Manchester United was rather convincing.
They were 2-0 up after 38 minutes and managed the game with control and comfort in the second half to see out a statement victory. Not a bad start for the Championship play-off winners up against last season’s third-place side, especially as they have the least ‘valuable’ squad in the Premier League, based on Transfermarkt estimates of their players’ potential transfer values.
And while the phrase ‘tactical masterclass’ is thrown around more often than it should be, the game plan that Sergej Jakirovic devised — and his team executed — manifested exactly as planned.
Let’s start with the shape. Hull had just 29 per cent possession and set up in a 5-4-1 without the ball. The centre-back trio of Semi Ajayi, John Egan and Nobel Mendy brought aerial prowess and box defending in abundance, forcing Manchester United down the sides.
Why the back five? “Because United were coming very high with (left-back) Luke Shaw,” Jakirovic told reporters in his post-match press conference. “Also, they’re trying to overload the midfield. That was our main task, to close these gaps between the lines,” the head coach explained.
Hull mainly played a 4-2-3-1 last season, when they finished sixth and 11 points off automatic promotion, though occasionally they switched to a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 — including for the play-off final win over Middlesbrough at Wembley, which brought them back to England’s top tier for the first time in a decade.
Here, they caused United problems because Matheus Cunha became harder to access. As the false nine in their 4-2-3-1, they need him to connect moves and bring the wingers into play. The best moments from Michael Carrick’s side in the first half were deep crosses to wide men Patrick Dorgu and Bryan Mbeumo — with a defensive overload and height advantage, these suited Hull.
A key detail, especially in the second half when Marcus Rashford replaced Dorgu at left wing, was how high Hull’s back five stayed. They avoided sinking too deep too early, meaning United could not pin them in, and Rashford’s repeated runs in behind never materialised into a chance because either the pass or his movement was timed wrongly.
Here, with Cody Drameh on for Lewie Coyle at right-wing back, they hold their line and catch Rashford offside.
“We know what we’re doing when in that low block, we’re well drilled,” club captain Coyle told TNT Sports in a post-match interview. “You need to be that way against top sides,” he added, praising Oli McBurnie for his defensive shift, with the Scotland striker positioning himself on midfielder Andrey Santos to prevent him from receiving passes.
In the opposition half, Hull made concerted efforts to press, especially from restarts. They went man-to-man, meaning central midfielders Regan Slater and Matt Crooks locked onto their opposite numbers. Youri Tielemans and Santos, United’s new midfield partnership, were hooked on 67 minutes, showing the extent to which Hull had stifled them.
United’s struggle to break down stubborn defensive sides is a problem that predates Carrick. They won 12 times from matchday 22 onwards last term (Carrick’s first league game), dropping points on five occasions: via away draws to Bournemouth, West Ham United and Sunderland, plus 2-1 defeats to Newcastle and Leeds United. Not exactly the top sides.
This performance is a textbook example of what happens when an opponent defends particularly well and Bruno Fernandes does not bail United out. They lack a tactical plan B, beyond bringing Benjamin Sesko off the bench and firing crosses into him. “There are issues playing against different systems and we have to find answers to that,” Carrick said post-match.
But we should praise Hull, who went from a patient 5-4-1 to aggressive once passes were made into midfield, making 17 tackles and winning the majority of ground and aerial duels.
“When we steal the ball, we are very vertical, very quick,” Jakirovic said. “In those transitions, we tried to switch the (ball to the other) side because our wing-backs were completely alone. We have numbers in the box.” Those things were true of Hull last season, too.
One such move on 14 minutes encapsulated that: when wide midfielder Elliot Stroud won an aerial duel against Noussair Mazraoui, Hull capitalised on the five-v-four overload that their wing-back system gave them — Mazraoui was out of position and left wing-back Ryan Giles, found by McBurnie, ran into that space.
Immediately, orange and black shirts flooded forward, giving Giles and three a two-on-one to aim at. He picked out McBurnie, and his header forced a strong reaction save from Senne Lammens.
Gyles attempted eight crosses and also made four clearances, doing both sides of the game well. On the other side, Coyle got forward plenty too, testing Shaw defensively.
It was telling that those repeated wide attacks built and sustained pressure, which led to Hull’s opener in the 17th minute. All the same elements were involved: Slater whipped the corner to the near post, Egan flicked it on and a sliding McBurnie hooked the ball goalwards at the far post. McBurnie wheeled away, certain that he had scored, as Ajayi pounced on the rebound from Lammen’s parry to make sure Hull went 1-0 up.
In many ways, Jakirovic has modelled a modern Premier League side: strong at set pieces, physical and direct, potent in transition and tactically flexible.
They have some technical brilliance too. Slater’s free kick for the second goal, headed in by Mendy, came about because Tielemans was nutmegged on the edge of the area by Mohamed Belloumi, and the United new boy fouled the Hull midfielder.
It’s a long season, and it’s worth remembering that the 2025-26 battle for survival saw West Ham finish 18th on 39 points, the highest relegated tally in 15 years. Hull have a long way to go, though they proved themselves more than capable with this performance and result, while Carrick’s United were given a reality check: do they have what it takes to beat low-block teams?
