City slickers lifting the gloom
HULL CITY boss Steve Bruce is refusing to even entertain thoughts of an immediate promotion back to the Premier League despite his side sitting second after seeing off MK Dons.
Ahmed Elmohamady and Mohamed Diame both scored their second goals of the season as City beat struggling MK Dons to move to within two points of topof-the-table Brighton.
But Bruce, who guided the Tigers to promotion from the Championship in his first season as boss in 2013, insisted his players must keep their feet on the ground despite their encouraging position in the table.
“It was a good performance away from home,” he said.“We can play better but to put in a 2-0 win away from home is very pleasing.
“There’s a long way to go because we’re only 14 games into the season, but we have had a good start to the season.
“It means nothing being top of the league in October, though, and there’s a long way to go before the daffodils come back up again so let’s wait and see where we are then.
“The club is now starting to lift the doom and gloom and that wasn’t easy.”
Both sides started conservatively during the opening exchanges as the two teams struggled to claim control of possession in midfield.
But it was the visitors who went ahead inside 19 minutes with their first meaningful attack of the game, despite appeals from the Dons for an offside in the build-up to Elmohamady eventually poking home inside the six-yard box.
It was Abel Hernandez who cleverly created space for himself on the edge of the Dons’ penalty area, before drilling a low cross into the path of Elmohamady who coolly tapped home into an empty net.
The Tigers almost pinched themselves a second just before the break as Elmohamady again beat the offside trap, rounded MK Dons goalkeeper David Martin before firing well over an empty net.
Karl Robinson’s side had lacked any real creativity in the final third throughout the match, but did start to come to life with the introduction of Nicky Maynard and Daniel Powell mid-way through the second half.
The substitutions provided MK Dons with some much-needed pace and power in their attacks for the first time and it did, at times, have the Tigers’ defence on the back foot.
But Diame made sure of the points at the death with a welltaken curling strike into Martin’s far corner as MK Dons pushed for a leveller.
“We did not deserve to lose here,” said MK Dons manager Karl Robinson. “One man has cost us – and you know who that is, but I can’t say his name.
“The fans thought that was one of the worst officiating displays they’ve seen here – but I can’t say that myself because I’ll get in trouble.
“When I got told that Jake Livermore wasn’t interfering with play for their first goal I couldn’t believe it.
“He’s made a movement to the ball and the referee has got that wrong.
“But I can only go on facts and the facts are that we played well, and we deserved more than what we got.
“All of my players deserve a mention here and I’m proud of them all.
“We don’t have the money to spend but the fans understand where we are as a club.”