MARCO’S GOT A SILVA LINING
IT WAS meant to be cagey and tense, a high-stakes match ruined by the suffocating pressure of the occasion.
Instead, the KCOM Stadium witnessed a football feast between two relegation-haunted sides going at it hell for leather.
It’s become something of a fortress since Marco Silva took charge in the New Year. The Portuguese coach boasts a stunning record on home soil, not having lost in 40 games at headquarters with four different clubs. And so there was no panic in the Hull ranks when Alvaro Negredo fired Boro into a fourth-minute lead, 95 seconds after Oumar Niasse had a goal ruled out for offside.
The two sides exchanged blows during a breathless opening period and when Harry Maguire peeled off his marker in the 69th minute to head Hull into a 4-2 lead, they had opened up a seven-point gap on Boro.
Mess
Boro coach Steve Agnew has changed the club’s mindset since replacing the ultra-cautious Aitor Karanka and the strategy looked to have paid off when Negredo scored his side’s first away goal this year, sliding in to meet Adama Traore’s cross.
They may have thrown off the shackles but Boro have left an almighty hole at the back.
And with England prospect Ben Gibson having a first half to forget, the Tigers raced into a 3-1 lead before being pegged back just before the interval.
Silva’s side were level on 14 minutes when Gibson made a mess of clearing Andy Robertson’s cross allowing Lazar Markovic to pounce from close range for his first goal since joining the Tigers on loan from Liverpool.
Hull went ahead 10 minutes later and again Gibson was the culprit, failing to intercept when Abel Hernandez headed Alfred N’Diaye’s hooked pass into the path of Niasse who notched up his fifth goal in six games.
The Tigers went for the jugular and stretched their lead when Maguire found Kamil Grosicki with a sweeping pass.
This time Daniel Ayala was the guilty Boro defender, failing to close down Hernandez who beat Victor Valdes with ease.
Marten De Roon looked offside when he headed home from under the bar after Gibson had headed on Adam Clayton’s corner.
But despite consulting his assistant, referee Michael Oliver allowed the goal to stand. HULL (4-2-3-1): Jakupovic; Elmohamady, Maguire, Ranocchia, Robertson; N’Diaye, Clucas; Markovic, Hernandez, Grosicki; Niasse. Subs: Marshall, Meyler, Maloney, Diomande, Dawson, Henriksen, Evandro. M’BORO (4-4-2): Valdes; Barragan, Ayala, Gibson, Husband; Traore, De Roon, Clayton, Downing; Gestede, Negredo. Subs: Guzan, Bernardo, Leadbitter, Stuani, Bamford, Guedioura, Forshaw. Referee: Michael Oliver.