Hull City Stun the Gunners on Their Own Ground

Hull City have surprised all after beating Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium by 2-1. This is surely the biggest surprise of the season so far.

Arsenal started well in the second half and opened their tally when Fabregas made full use of a melee in the box.

Hull City fought back and after a great shot in the 62th minute—deserving of goal of the season—Geovanni equalized. Daniel Cousin took advantage of the stunned Gunners and four minutes later completed the comeback.

Once again, here is the analysis and ratings (1 to 10) of every Arsenal player in this match:

GK: Manuel Almunia

The Spanish goalkeeper did make a mistake this match. Even though he had to pull the ball from his net twice, Almunia could not do much on both occasions. He was forced to make some good saves in the second half when the match livened up. He did his job. 

Rating: 6/10

RB: Bakary Sagna

He was stable on his side and made a couple of dangerous crosses. It was a job well done by Sagna.  

Rating: 6/10

CB: William Gallas

The captain of Arsenal was the main man responsible for the second goal. For the second time this season he was unable to keep with his man when the opposition was taking a corner. It took him a fraction of a second to realize that Cousin had pulled free of him but by then it was already too late. He showed some good attacking attributes, when he played like a striker near the end of the match. He almost gave his team the equalizer when he hit the post by a good shot with his head in the 83th minute. Nevertheless, that mistake cost Arsenal.

Rating: 5/10

CB: Kolo Toure

He played well and sometimes got himself involved in Arsenal’s attacks. 

Rating: 6/10

LB: Gael Clichy

His performance was defiant in the face of the injury he sustained during the previous match, proving that everything was fine for him. Clichy was once again at his usual best. He was good at the back and he was a danger on the wing, using his speed and technique to terrorize Hull’s right full back. He was a good support to the man in front of him—Eboue.

Rating: 7/10

LM: Emannuel Eboue

Eboue just did not have his day. He put a lot of effort in everything he did but it was just not enough. He was always one move behind, making some unnecessary passes which burdened Arsenal’s attacks. He was eventually replaced by Nicklas Bendtner in the 69th minute.

Rating: 6/10

CM: Denilson

The Brazilian kid has improved a lot. He showed some improvement in his defensive play but his passing was not at his best. He did a couple of very good tackles, one of which was especially good, against the goalscorer Cousin in the eighth minute. Nevertheless he also allowed himself to make a couple of mistakes and that was how Hull’s attack for the first goal started.

Rating: 6/10

CM: Francesc Fabregas

Nothing bad can be said about the Arsenal playmaker. He was just out of luck as was his team. His work-rate was admirable, especially after the Gunners were trailing in the result. Unfortunately for him, it was not his day. He scored the goal for Arsenal. He also attempted to net the ball from long range for a couple of times, only to see his precise shots deflected by a brilliant, on this day, goalkeeper, Boaz Myhill.

Rating: 7/10

RM: Theo Walcott

The Hull City left full back guarded him well. Theo used his speed and mind-blowing dribbling ability to make a pre-assist for the only goal Arsenal scored. He was the main reason they scored this goal. In spite of the pre-assist, the Hull City defenders, with terrific performances, were able to keep the England hat-trick hero at bay for most of the match.

Rating: 6/10

ST: Emmanuel Adebayor

Out of luck is maybe the right choice of words for this guy. He carried the attack well, passed well and scored a goal which was disallowed due to an imaginary foul. He was unlucky not see some of his shots go in.

Rating: 7/10

ST: Robin van Persie

The Dutchman tried everything. He can’t be blamed for trying to play in some situations alone. He has the skill to do damage. But yesterday, his luck was on the downside. His shots simply would not go in. Most of them passed inches from the goal frame. In the end, the Arsenal fans felt he should have done more in this match. He did an average job linking the midfielders and the strikers.

Rating: 6/10

Subs:

ST: Nicklas Bendtner

He came on for Eboue in the 69th minute. He was most of the time unnoticeable and his involvement did not change the Arsenal game that much.

Rating: 6/10

St: Carlos Vela

Wenger brought him on with 13 minutes left on the clock. The hat-trick hero of midweek had very little time to turn things around for Arsenal. The time was simply not enough.

Rating: 6/10

Unused substitutes:

Lukasz Fabianski, Mikael Silvestre, Johan Djourou, Aaron Ramsey, Alexandre Song.