Silva irate after referee almost denies Hull a precious point
The unflappable Marco Silva discovered that there is one referee virtually guaranteed to make even the mildest of men lose their tempers, and on this occasion it would be fair to say that Mike Dean took the Hull City manager right to the brink.
The penalty Dean awarded against Hull in the last minute threatened to deny them a rare away point in what is starting to look like a miraculous survival season, and Silva was furious.
Were it not for Eldin Jakupovic’s save low to his left from Dusan Tadic’s spot-kick then the Hull manager would surely have struggled to control his emotions, but in the end he could celebrate a draw that takes his club three points clear of the relegation zone.
Silva advanced the theory that he did not believe it was a penalty when Alfred N’Diaye and Maya Yoshida collided, and said that if that qualified as a foul, there were others Hull could cite against them. One was a grapple that involved Harry Maguire, then in the dying seconds Oumar Niasse had his shirt pulled in the Southampton area.
“There was a similar situation in the other box and the referee didn’t give it,” Silva said. “I wasn’t happy but then there was a big save from Eldin. I wouldn’t say it’s like a victory but it’s important because we didn’t deserve to lose.”
Should Swansea, in 18th, lose at Old Trafford today, Hull’s prospects look bright. Both play relegated Sunderland, and though Hull also face Crystal Palace away, and Tottenham at home in the final game, they have given themselves a good chance of staying up. They have won once away from home, against Swansea in August, and this was just their sixth point on the road. After the visit of Sunderland, Hull’s final away game of the season is at Selhurst Park, which was why Silva was eager to see an improvement.
It was a bad day for Claude Puel, whose team were booed at half-time, and there was the same reaction when the manager substituted Manolo Gabbiadini. One wonders if the fans’ hostility will influence whether he stays next season, especially with a home record that is the sixth worst in the league.
Puel said afterwards that his team were “too slow” at times to break down Hull. “For us it was not enough,” he said. “We could have won this game with a penalty but a draw was normal [fair]. It was a bad day.”
Saints still have Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United to play, and it could yet get worse for their manager if the crowd continues to turn against him, even with the team in ninth place.
Meanwhile, there was another manager at St Mary’s who might appeal to a club that has a history of appointing good young foreign coaches.