Hull City vs. Manchester City: Score, Grades and Reaction from EPL Game
Manchester City had to claw their way to a 4-2 Premier League win over Hull City on Saturday, giving up a two-goal lead in the first half before taking care of business in the second.
The win stops a three-match slide for the Citizens, who are now back on title course, five points behind Chelsea.
The visitors started the match on fire, and Sergio Aguero had the ball in the net after just seven minutes. The Argentina striker timed his volley perfectly, blasting the ball into the far corner and giving Allan McGregor no chance.
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The Citizens kept up the pace and doubled their lead minutes later through Edin Dzeko, creating space for himself on the edge of the box before finishing expertly. The Premier League's Twitter feed was impressed:
City appeared to be in control, but two mistakes from new signing Eliaquim Mangala allowed the hosts to tie the game before half-time.
The French international was unlucky to see his header fly past Willy Caballero, but his high-foot on Abel Hernandez was inexcusable, giving Hull City a penalty in the 32nd minute. Hernandez himself took responsibility, sending Caballero the wrong way.
The Sun Football was particularly harsh on Eliaquim for his performance:
City took control of possession for the remainder of the first half, but couldn't find any real chances.
The same pattern repeated itself in the second half—City held possession but failed to break down the Hull defence, and the hosts remained a threat on the counter attack.
The stalemate lasted until the 68th minute when David Silva found Dzeko with a beautiful pass, and the Bosnian scored his second of the afternoon.
Hull now pressed forward and had two great chances to equalise within 60 seconds, but Caballero produced an excellent save before Vincent Kompany blocked a Tom Huddlestone shot that floated over the bar.
Just two minutes later, the Citizens secured the win through substitute Frank Lampard, who easily slotted home after great work from Pablo Zabaleta.
Player Grades
Edin Dzeko: B+
The Bosnian showed his class with two excellent goals, with the second coming at a time when City desperately needed it. The Citizens have incredible depth at the forward positions, but Dzeko continues to prove he deserves to be a regular starter.
Eliaquim Mangala: D
The young centre-back had a nightmare first 45 minutes and was marginally better in the second half. Unlucky on the own goal, his high foot that led to Hull's penalty is the kind of mistake you simply can't make in the Premier League.
Abel Hernandez: B
The Uruguayan is proving to be an excellent find for Hull City. Active off the ball and dangerous on it, he didn't hesitate one second and calmly slotted home the penalty he earned thanks to a quick reaction on the ball.
Post-Match Reaction
As shared by OptimaLive's Kelechi Nkoro, Manuel Pellegrini was not willing to throw any of his players under the bus for giving up their early lead:
He also expressed confidence in young defender Mangala, who had an absolute howler:
City looked like they would cruise to an easy win before unnecessarily making things hard on themselves, but their class showed in the end. The win breaks a three-game winless streak in the Premier League, and spirits should be high ahead of the team's trip to Birmingham to take on Aston Villa.
Hull will look to bounce back when they host Crystal Palace, and they'll take plenty of positives from their resilience on Saturday.
