Hull put in a heroic defensive performance to hold Manchester United at Old Trafford and gain a valuable point to boost their chances of Premier League survival.
Goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic and the centre-half duo of Harry Maguire and Michael Dawson ensured that a dominant United were unable to find a breakthrough despite enjoying 67% of possession. They came close to snatching the game themselves in the late stages – Lazar Markovic and Abel Hernandez unable to finish off their respective counter-attacks.
We rate the players from an entertaining game on a scale from 1 to 10:
Manchester United
David de Gea – 6.5
The Spaniard had next to nothing to do the entire game, making just two routine saves.
Antonio Valencia – 7
Valencia gave young Josh Tymon a torrid time on the right wing, hurling forward at every given chance and linking up with Herrera to create spaces. His crosses were quite teasing as well, but the target men in the box couldn’t be located.
Phil Jones – 7.5
Jones won most of his defensive duels, be it ground or aerial. He never looked threatened to be done in by Oumar Niasse’s pace, despite a couple of such indicators. His night was ended early by a hamstring injury.
Marcos Rojo – 8
Rojo was absolutely fantastic in defence, making a brilliant interception to stop Lazar Markovic from having a shot at goal after a Hull counter-attack.
Daley Blind – 7.5
Blind kept pressing forward as the game progressed and delivered innumerable quality crosses into the box, but couldn’t get a deserved assist against his name.
Ander Herrera – 7
Herrera was initially rusty – committing a couple of fouls and losing the ball in midfield – but was a vital figure in the second half, moving the ball about at a higher pace in an attempt to break open a resolute Hull defence.
Michael Carrick – 6.5
Carrick played a number of long passes from midfield in an attempt to set United on their way but to no avail. He was taken off at half-time.
Paul Pogba – 6
Pogba missed a glorious chance in the first half, shooting straight at Jakupovic after Zlatan played him in with a beautiful back-heel pass. He was defensively vulnerable as well, allowing Maguire to win a header from a free-kick – which went narrowly wide. The incisive passing was not to be seen against the wooden-spoon holders, although he did put in a plethora of hopeful crosses in the latter stages.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 5
Mkhitaryan was well off his best today, unable to provide the spark to inject any fear into the Hull defence. He was dispossessed a number of times on the edge of the box and failed to create a single goal-scoring chance.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 7
Zlatan’s wonderful back-heeled pass to Pogba – whose shot was well saved by Jakupovic – was the highlight in an impressive performance, despite not registering a goal. He kept possession in the attacking third using his physique, got shots on target and fed the ball to the wide areas to stretch an organised Hull backline.
Marcus Rashford – 7
Rashford absolutely dominated the duel between himself and Meyler in the wide areas. His pace and fleet-footedness gave the 27-year old a nightmare. He missed a good chance to score midway through the second half after he deftly controlled Ibrahimovic’s lofted pass – scuffing his shot wide of the post.
Substitutes:
Wayne Rooney – 6.5
Rooney came on half-time to give Mourinho’s side an extra attacking source. He tried his absolute best to provide his side an opening with some purposeful passing, but like most of his team-mates, the killer ball eluded him.
Chris Smalling – 7
Smalling was important on both ends – winning headers from set-pieces to give his side opportunities to score while also neutralising the few Hull breaks back in his own half.
Juan Mata – 6
Mata saw his shot from 6 yards spectacularly saved by Jakupovic. His performance was much better compared to that against Wigan in the FA Cup – picking out teammates with his deft passing. However, he could not force the Hull defence to crack.
Hull City
Eldin Jakupovic – 9
Jakupovic made numerous saves to keep his side in the mix. A reflex action save to deny Mata in the 72nd minute was the pick of the lot.
Josh Tymon – 5.5
Tymon struggled in the game, getting easily outrun and out-thought by Valencia. He hardly provided anything going up front.
Michael Dawson – 8.5
Dawson was absolutely exceptional in defence, keeping his composure amidst incessant United pressure to maintain the clean sheet.
Harry Maguire – 8.5
Maguire probably played the game of his life, getting his body in the way of shots and keeping his concentration intact for the entire 90 minutes to make crucial clearances from crosses.
Andy Robertson – 8
Robertson made an excellent last ditch tackle to prevent Mkhitaryan from scoring within seconds of kick-off. He protected a suspect Tymon well in defence, while also threatening to catch United on the break on a couple of instances, one which culminated in Markovic hitting the woodwork.
David Meyler – 7
Meyler was always second best against the likes of Rashford but was pivotal in dealing with crosses flying into the Hull box late in the game.
Tom Huddlestone – 7.5
Huddlestone was amongst Hull’s most effective players, playing out from the back with some good passing to give Hull some respite against United’s dominance.
Lazar Markovic – 6.5
Markovic fluffed a glorious chance to give Hull a shock lead in the dying moments, seeing his cleverly disguised shot beat a dumbfounded David de Gea, only for the ball to rebound off the post. He had a decent game overall, dribbling past opposition players and helping Hull eke out a chance or two in the first half.
Evandro Goebel – 6.5
Evandro had an unspectacularly good outing, challenging United players to one-on-one duels and delivering crosses into the box for Niasse to attack.
Sam Clucas – 6
Clucas was mostly restricted to defensive duties and could not express himself in the attacking third as much as he would have hoped to.
Oumar Niasse – 6
Niasse looked dangerous on the break but can count himself lucky to escape a red card after two dangerous challenges in either half when already on a booking.
Substitutes:
Andrea Ranocchia – 7.5
The debutant put in a magnificent 25-minute shift as part of a three-man central defence, keeping Pogba quiet on the edge of the 18-yard box and confidently heading away crosses.
Abel Hernandez – 6
Hernandez was the target man for Hull’s counter-attacks. The plan nearly worked in injury time when he was sent clear by a teammate from the defensive third, but could not control the first header to go through on goal.
Omar Ellabdelaoui – 7
The Olympiakos loanee was sent on to add more manpower to Hull’s defence and he did his job perfectly.
