Resolute Hull City maintain 100% record despite second-half Plymouth Argyle barrage

Grant McCann’s Hull City came into this game having won every game, and having not conceded yet, in the league this season, but they were made to work hard to extend that record by newly promoted Plymouth Argyle.

Hull started the game on top, scoring an early goal with Hakeeb Adelakun smashing home a Keane Lewis-Potter cross, and by half-time it looked like it was going to be another win and another clean sheet.

 

 

The Tigers did have chances to add to their tally before the break, but their efforts were mainly from outside the box and straight at Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Michael Cooper.

Argyle had mustered just three efforts in the first half, the best of which came from Conor Grant, looking to add to his two long range strikes in previous games, firing from outside the box, but the shot went just the wrong side of the crossbar for the Pilgrims.

Ryan Lowe’s side came out rejuvenated after the break, putting Hull under pressure for large parts of the second half, but Hull’s centre backs Jordy de Wijs and Reece Burke were everywhere, throwing themselves in the way of every shot and making goalkeeper Matt Ingram’s day much easier.

Callum Elder and Josh Emmanuel spent much of the second half pinned back by Argyle’s attacking play, whereas in the first half they had been key to Hull’s attacking play.

Hull did still have their moments in the second half, often exploiting the gaps behind Argyle’s wingbacks, but much of the half, especially late on, was spent holding off Argyle pressure.

Lowe’s team had scored four goals on their previous away trip, and it could have been a similar tally this time around had Hull’s defence not thrown themselves in front of everything that came their way.

Ryan Lowe said:

“I have to compliment Hull and what they’ve done, it’s no coincidence why they haven’t conceded any goals, they do put bodies on the line. We did everything we could but score today.

“There’s a lot of teams that will come to Hull City this season, concede in the first 10 minutes and then just flop and it will be three or four by half time, we certainly were never going to do that. We’ve gone toe-to-toe with them, and it was total domination toward the back end of the half, we just didn’t score.

“We can’t come to these kind of clubs and just be expansive like we are at home, we have to make sure we respect the levels and respect the opposition. We’re going to go away to places where we have to be a little bit more solid and resolute cause we can’t be expansive against some teams as you will get cut open.”

 

A lot of questions were raised about Hull in pre-season about whether they would be able to turn around what had been awful form in the second half of last season, but Grant McCann has already answered those critics with some excellent additions adding to an already good core giving Hull what on paper is one of the best sides in the division.

This win came without Tom Eaves, Richie Smallwood and Mallik Wilks, all back from injury but none risked, which shows the depth that Hull have available to them.

In the first half Hull were excellent, until the final third, where they were still good, but often lacked the final ball or decided to shoot from range when there were better options available.

But their defensive play was what really stood out, pressing from the front, and making Argyle uncomfortable in their passing play.

Grant McCann said:

“They’re a good team, Plymouth, a really good team, and they’ll cause a lot of people problems in this league because of the way they play.

“Second half their wingbacks were a lot more aggressive, we probably should have been three or four nil up really, with the chances we had in the first half, we didn’t take them and that’s probably what left it a bit nervy at the end.

“On the whole, I’m pleased with the performance. What I’m really pleased with is the second half, when we had to dig deep again. The blocks on the edge of the box, people throwing their bodies on the line just desperate to keep that clean sheet. I’m really, really, pleased. It’s the best I’ve seen the two centre backs for a while as well. I thought they were excellent.”

 

Daniel Batty, George Honeyman and Greg Docherty gave Argyle’s midfield little space and little time on the ball to operate, which is where their goal came from.

A mistake from Argyle’s midfield saw the ball fall for Keane Lewis-Potter in acres of space, Adelakun’s positioning on the other side was good, but the ball from Lewis-Potter couldn’t have been much better.

Argyle had also been unbeaten going into this game, and were a good test of Hull’s quality, but Hull held strong and kept hold of their 100% record, and their clean sheet record.

Despite Hull’s record so far, they are still not top of the league, with Lincoln City currently leading the way on goals scored. The Imps have scored nine, conceding three, which gives them the same goal difference as Grant McCann’s side, but the table favours those who have scored more goals.

Argyle, meanwhile, now find themselves in the bottom half of the table, despite having made a promising start to the campaign. The draws at Wimbledon and against Shrewsbury both could have been won but weren’t, they could have picked up at least a point against Hull but didn’t.

Argyle will need to work on their cutting edge going into future games but on this occasion it is fair to say Hull’s defence was the main reason for the Pilgrims dropping points.

 

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