LIFE SO NIASSE FOR HULL HERO
EVERY KICK, EVERY GOAL, EVERY GAME Toffees flop Oumar inspires Tigers
OUMAR NIASSE says life is smiles better at Hull after his Everton nightmare.
The Senegal striker is finally enjoying life in England with the Tigers more than a year after arriving at Goodison for £13.5m.
Niasse, 26, was signed by former Toffees boss Roberto Martinez from Lokomotiv Moscow but played just 142 minutes of first-team football last term.
Martinez’s replacement Ronald Koeman liked Niasse even less and he was sent to play with Everton’s Under-23s.
Struggling Hull offered a loan lifeline in January and Niasse is taking his chance with four goals in nine appearances so far.
Niasse said: “It was a difficult time at Everton. I was in the dressing room with the Under-23s, playing and travelling with them all the time.
“It was difficult but I always kept smiling and always kept a positive mind to start again.
“It’s also a little bit complicated because of the position of the club but we have to enjoy football. I try every time to give my best.
“When I arrived it was difficult but now I am getting more and more confident. Hopefully, by the end of the season, I will get my level back and help the team stay in the Premier League.” One issue for Niasse and Hull is that he is not available to play next time out. The Tigers face Everton at Goodison Park and Premier League rules prevent Niasse from featuring. He said: “It’s a little bit frustrating because it’s a good moment for me, when you come in and score two goals your confidence is a bit like 100 per cent. “It’s a bit sad I can’t play next week but I am an Everton player so I have to follow the rules and I just hope it’s going to be a good game.” Niasse’s impact against Swansea was vital for Hull and could have a huge bearing on their survival hopes. He TACTICAL BATTLE: Hull boss Marco Silva and Swansea manager Paul Clement came off the bench after 63 minutes and twice kept a cool head to finish well in the 69th and 78th minutes.
Niasse played a give-and-go with Abel Hernandez before slotting the ball under Lukasz Fabianski for the first.
Then fellow substitute Ahmed Elmohamady crossed from the right and Niasse controlled and finished from close range.
Swansea struck in injury-time when defender Alfie Mawson headed in from Gylfi Sigurdsson’s free-kick but Hull held firm to collect their first win in three games.
High
It might have been very different but winger Wayne Routledge missed a great chance in each half that would have put Swansea on course for a win – and saw them eight points clear of the drop zone instead of three.
Mawson, 23, said: “The job wasn’t done anyway. It would have made the job easier but, like the gaffer says, it’s about finishing 17th.
“Obviously we want to finish as high as we can but we want to stay up.
“Whatever happens, will happen. Whether we get the points against the teams we should do or we pick up a surprise result, we just have to go into every game full of belief and try to get the three points.” The defeat dented Swansea’s improvement since Paul Clement’s arrival in January.
Mawson said: “It goes without saying that we will back ourselves to survive. We have backed ourselves recently and been performing to a high standard.
“We should have been performing to this standard for a while now.
“We have got the ability to be much higher up the table but it’s little things in football – you can make a mistake and end up with nothing.” HULL (4-2-3-1): Jakupovic 6; Elabdellaoui 7, Maguire 5, Ranocchia 7, Robertson 6; Huddlestone 7, N’Diaye 6 (NIASSE 63, 8); Markovic 5 (Elmohamady 75), Clucas 6; 7, Grosicki Hernandez 7 (Meyler 82). Subs: Marshall, Davies, Maloney, Diomande. UP NEXT: Everton (a), Premier League, Saturday. SWANSEA (4-3-3): Fabianski 6; Rangel 6 (Amat 33, 6), Fernandez 7, Mawson 7; Cork 7, Olsson 6, FER 7, Carroll 6; Routledge 4 71), (Narsingh Llorente 6 (Ayew 46, 6), Sigurdsson Subs: 7. Nordfeldt, Britton, Borja, Kingsley. UP NEXT: Bournemouth (a), Premier League, Saturday. Referee: Andre Marriner 6. YOUR TURN: Who was the last man to score a hat-trick in a Hull-Swans game, in Swansea’s 4-2 home win in Division Three in May 2003?