HULL TOLD TO TAKE CUP FORM INTO DROP FIGHT
BOSS SILVA HAILS RELEGATION BATTLERS’ SUPER SPIRIT DESPITE CUP SEMI-FINAL KO
Hull City head coach Marco Silva saw his Wembley dream die last night.
But a 2-1 EFL Cup semi-final second leg win over Manchester United – going out 3-2 on aggregate – lifted spirits in the Tigers’ squad.
United led 2-0 from the first leg at Old Trafford, but although United’s Paul Pogba cancelled out Tom Huddlestone’s first-half penalty opener, on-loan Everton attacker Oumar Niasse’s first goal for Hull halted the visitors’ 17-game unbeaten run.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was denied by Hull goalkeeper David Marshall’s superb onehanded save at the end of the first half and Marcus Rojo’s second-half header hit the crossbar.
But relegation-threatened Hull, who out-fought their more illustrious opponents, had their fair share of limited chances as Niasse also hit the crossbar with a second-half header before crashing home an 85thminute winner from former Sunderland midfielder David Meyler’s cross.
They will now look to carry that impressive form into the fight for Premier League survival, which continues at Manchester United on Wednesday.
Silva was without club record summer signing Ryan Mason, recovering in hospital after fracturing his skull, while star player Robert Snodgrass will reportedly hold signing talks with West Ham today.
“This will give confi- dence to my players,” Silva said. “The last three games at home, we have won, and it’s important to the players and the fans.”
“It was a good win for us, but not enough for us to go through to the final.
“It’s always important to win games but the last result at Old Trafford caused too many problems for us.
“Our players put in a good team performance and showed good spirit with good attitude and we controlled many moments.
“We caused problems for Manchester United and although it is impossible to be happy at this moment because we lost overall, it was a good performance.
“That is three wins from our last three home games and when I arrived here, the team hadn’t won for two months. We need to continue this home form because it gives confidence to my players.”
Jose Mourinho could barely stifle his anger after United staggered into the final against Southampton.
It was unclear what Mourinho was more annoyed with – United’s inept display or referee Jon Moss’s decision to award Hull a controversial 35th-minute penalty that handed them a way back into the tie.
“To speak about the performance, I have to speak about things I don’t want to speak about because the game was totally under control – the game was dead,” said Mourinho.
Mourinho was clearly at pains to avoid speaking his mind about the penalty, awarded when Hull defender Harry Maguire went to ground under the attention of Rojo.
“The game was what we wanted the game to be and something happened (Huddlestone’s penalty) to open thegame–andthenthegame was open,” he said.
“But we had more power and were the best team. We could have scored lots of goals in the first match.”
Hull, meanwhile, have accepted bids of around £10million from West Ham and Burnley for Snodgrass, while Middlesbrough have also made an offer. Silva added: “I know the (West Ham) deal is close. It’s possible in the next few hours.
“The player hasn’t trained with the team and is not available after the club did this deal with West Ham, and we need to find solutions to strengthen our team.” Hull visit Fulham in the FA Cup on Sunday.