Manchester City 1 Hull City 2
Tuesday February 17, 2009, 7.00pm
Regional Athletics Arena - Att: 269
City:
Schmeichel, Obeng, McGivern, Mee, Brown, Kay, Moore (Trippier, 60), Tsiaklis (Morris, 78), D Ball, Bojinov (Daly, 65), McDermott.
Unused subs: T Johansen (GK), Ibrahim.
Hull:
Warner, Doyle, Hanley (Gardner, 74), Welsh, Plummer, Cooper (Lamplough, 64), Devitt, Featherstone, Kendall, Hughes, Atkinson.
unused subs: Woodhead, Cairney, Bennett.
Goals: Ball 14min; Atkinson 6min, Doyle (pen) 59min.
Bookings:
City: None.
Hull: Doyle.
The Match
VALERI BOJINOV made a promising return after his six-month absence but neither the Bulgaria striker nor Kasper Schmeichel could prevent Glyn Hodges' table toppers from slipping to their second defeat in six matches.
Bojinov's 65-minute comeback stint might yet prove to the most significant factor from this game as Mark Hughes' squad prepare for a final third of the campaign that will test their strength in depth to the full.
City had won 4-1 when the teams met in September, but it was the Yorkshire side who took the lead with six minutes gone after a smart bout of passing by the visitors, under the watchful eye of former City boss Brian Horton, now Hull's No2.
Schmeichel, having an extra outing before the UEFA Cup trip to his native Denmark with the seniors, made a good save from lively Nicky Featherstone but winger Will Atkinson pounced to smash the loose ball past the keeper.
But City were level with a quarter of an hour on the clock. Karl Moore swung in a fine cross from the right and David Ball, a problem for Hull on several occasions, planted a firmheader beyond the reach of veteran Hull keeper Tony Warner.
A sparse crowd were hoping for some heroics from Bojinov as the former Fiorentina striker kicked a ball in anger for the first time since pulling up with an achilles injury in the warm-up for the opening League match at Aston Villa.
He was understandably a touch rusty after such a long lay-off but his quality stood out as he evaded three tackles only to shoot over the bar.Earlier, Warner had to be at his best to beat away his rasping shot at full stretch.
But when Ryan McGivern played a fine long pass into his path Bojinov was just short of the pace to beat the alert Warner, and it was Ball who looked the likelier to turn up with a winner for the home side.
Hull's experienced midfielder Bryan Hughes, with 500 senior games after spells at Birmingham and Charlton, delivered a superb long-range effort that forced Schmeichel into an excellent save to tip the ball over the bar.
Bojinov conjured a good turn and shot early in the second half but it was Hull who regained the lead after 59 minutes when Nathan Doyle scored fromthe spot after McGivern brought down Jamie Devitt just inside the box.
Right-back Curtis Obeng hit the post for City after 70 minutes as the young home side battled to try and rescue a point, but Hull managed to weather the storm and secure victory.
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