HULL WIN £200m MATCH
Back in the Premier League after Diame hits a wonder goal
IN A MATCH that has come to be defined by how much it is worth, every missed chance can cost you millions. In the £200million game, Hull City squandered opportunities like a dissolute playboy throwing away his cash in the casino at Monte Carlo.
Chance after chance came and went until it seemed that Steve Bruce’s side must surely have let the jackpot slip away in the Championship play-off, the richest game in football. And then, just when it seemed they must have blown the lot and that another season of penury in the second tier beckoned, they finally hit paydirt.
It was 18 minutes from the end when Mo Diame curled a quite brilliant winner over the heroic Keiren Westwood in the Sheffield Wednesday goal and the blue and white hordes, who had sung themselves hoarse and dominated Wembley with their noise and their numbers, finally fell silent.
Those who craved the romance of a Wednesday victory and a return to the top flight after an absence of 16 years for one of England’s most famous clubs had to admit defeat, too. It was not to be their year. Hull, who have been led back to the promised land at the first attempt by Bruce, are back among the super-rich.
The clubs knew before the game was played that they were taking part in the most lucra-ucrative game in footballall history. The value wass calculated in telephone numbers: £173m, £200m, £250m, take your pick. As the money the Premier League makes from television rights goes up and up and the gap p between the top divisions ons widens and widens, so o the pressure to break into theh rich ih man’s cabal grows and grows.
Some turn it into fool’s gold and squander it on poor signings and crazy wages. Others, like Burnley, husband it carefully and use it to make sure that even if they cannot hack it with the big boys at the first time of asking, they remain on a sound enough financial footing to bounce straight back and try to stay in the elite division the second time around.
That has been Hull’s model. After relegation at the end of last season, Bruce bought well but not extravagantly and even though there were initial fears that the club might fall down through the divisions, they were never far from the top of the table in the second half of the season, even if they did finish six points adrift of automatic promotion.
Wednesday’s fans were making all the noise but the Hull players refused to be cowed. They started the game looking like a Premier League team who had merely been on loan to the Championship for a season. They were all power and assurance. Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore quickly established a hold on midfield.
But everybody had warned that Wednesday were the team with the flair players, the players capable of moments of inspiration, of moments that could take the game away from Hull, and only 10 minutes had gone when Fernando Forestieri set about proving the point.
He took the ball with his back to goal on the left touchline and turned so sweetly away from Michael Dawson that the Hull skipper could only get close enough to him to chop him down as he closed in on goal. Dawson was shown a yellow card and Eldin Jakupovic tipped Forestieri’s free-kick over the bar. The threat passed but the danger was clear.
Hull forged on, though, and they came close to opening the scoring after half an hour. Abel Hernandez rose unchallenged to meet a corner and his downward header was chested off the line by Kieran Lee. InI the melee that followed,lowe there were claims forfo handball against Wednesday but the referee waved them away.
Hull started to pour ono the power now. The WednesdayW defence failedf to cut out a through-ballth to Hernandezde and as he advanced on Westwood,W he toe-poked his sh shot goalwards. Westwood d spread himself wide and deflected the ball over the bar. Hernandez sank to his knees in despair. It was the best chance of the half.
It was all Hull now. Six minutes before half-time, Diame bludgeoned his way past a couple of weak tackles and unleashed a left-foot shot that beat Westwood but cannoned off the outside of the post. It seemed as if it was only a matter of time until Bruce’s side took the lead.
But it also felt as if Hull were wasting their superiority. They had another chance two minutes before the break when Moses Odubajo raced through on the right but a heavy first touch allowed Westwood, who had sprinted from his line, to block Odubajo’s cross and clear the danger. Wednesday clung on.
Westwood was soon back in action in the second half, flinging himself at a volley by Dawson after Wednesday failed to clear a free-kick and blocking it with his body. Frustration crept into Wednesday’s play. Ross Wallace screamed at Forestieri, urging him on.
But it didn’t change anything. Hull missed a gilt-edged chance just before the hour when Ahmed Elmohamady crossed beautifully into the path of Andy Robertson. The cross was so well judged that Robertson did not have to break stride but with only Westwood to beat, he lifted his shot wildly over the bar from 10 yards out. The wastefulness went on.
Eventually, the goal came. Eventually, Hull stopped toying with their opponents. It was always going to take a special strike to beat Westwood and Diame delivered it, curling his shot over the desperate dive of the goalkeeper from 25 yards out. Westwood got his fingertips to it. Perhaps he might have done better but after the heroics he had performed, no one was about to blame him.
Wednesday pressed for an equaliser as hard as they could but Hull kept them at arm’s length. They were too good. In fact, they might have doubled their advantage before the end, although they did survive one frenzied appeal for a penalty for handball. After all their profligacy, the money-pot was theirs. Now it is time to start spending it.