Bristol City stormed back to beat struggling Hull City
LEONID Slutsky admits he “doesn’t know” whether or not he will survive as Hull manager after his side threw away a two-goal lead to fall to another defeat against Bristol City at the KCOM Stadium.
Goals in the final ten minutes from Bobby Reid and Josh Brownhill, added to Aden Flint’s earlier strike, completed what had appeared to be an unlikely comeback.
Slutsky’s side had been in control through Frazier Campbell and Jarrod Bowen but was once again left with that sinking feeling.
“It’s a very painful time for me, I cannot think about my future or my job,” said the Russian.
“We controlled the game but we didn’t control set-pieces, and not controlling set-pieces cost us the game, it’s been a problem for us this season.
“This is a very difficult moment for me, we have a lot of problems in defence which people can see, we have problems to fix.”
The first half didn’t offer up many chances and there was no sign of the impending drama with long-range efforts for both sides the best of the opening half hour.
It was left to Hull’s star man Bowen to produce the goods, his pinpoint cross falling nicely for Campbell in the Bristol six-yard box.
The striker’s initial effort from close range was saved by Frank Fielding, but the rebound bounced in off Campbell’s knee to give the Tigers the lead.
The goal gave Hull the confidence to go on the attack, Jackson Irvine missing a big chance after the break before Bowen appeared to put the result beyond doubt on the hour mark.
Pinball around the Bristol box eventually led to the ball finding Bowen just six yards out, and the winger fired into the bottom corner for his tenth goal of the campaign.
Despite Reid drawing a good save from Allan McGregor soon after, the visitors didn’t look like getting back into it until some generous Hull defending gave them a lifeline.
The hosts couldn’t defend a freekick into the box and Aden Flint fired hom from close-range for Bristol’s first goal at the KCOM Stadium in five visits.
The goal changed the path of the game, and the equaliser eventually came in similar fashion to the first. Substitute Jamie Paterson’s freekick once again wasn’t cleared, and this time it was Reid who fired home between McGregor’s legs.
Slutsky’s side were fully on the backfoot as the clock ticked down, the killer blow coming just before the 90th minute as Brownhill wasn’t closed down and let one fly into the bottom corner from just outside the area, leaving manager Lee Johnson delighted.
“It was a bit like parenting a little baby, it’s horrendous, horrendous and then you get that little bit of joy,” he said.
“We were absolutely terrible in the first half, we gave the ball up too easily and made so many enforced errors.
“We set up well, we had our game plan, but we couldn’t get hold of the ball.
“You have to beat teams by different methods and here we probably won it through physicality.
“I’m in awe at my squad after that. We weren’t playing well so I’m absolutely thrilled that we managed to come back and score three goals in the last 25 minutes.”