Hull City 2-0 Everton

A new year brought a change of fortune for Hull City as they put 12 months of relegation form behind them by comfortably beating Everton.

First-half goals from Ahmed Elmohamady and the former Everton forward Nikica Jelavic settled the contest well before the visitors lost Antolín Alcaraz to a second booking late on.

It was a much-needed win for Hull, who despite reaching the FA Cup final for the first time in their history, claimed only seven victories in the league in 2014; their record at the KC Stadium was even worse. Home results tend to offer a reliable indicator of future prospects in relegation fights and Hull’s three wins from 18 attempts in the calendar year suggested they were losing theirs.

But thankfully for Steve Bruce – who ruled himself out of the running for the Newcastle manager’s job on the eve of this contest – Everton arrived on the back of travel travails. Visits to Southampton and Newcastle saw them ship three goals on each occasion and resulted in a switch in tactics by Roberto Martínez, who reverted to the three-at-the-back system he previously employed at Wigan.



However, it did not reap any change in fortune. In fact, Hull preyed on the uncertainty displayed by Gareth Barry on the left side of the trio throughout the opening 45 minutes.

There were less than three minutes on the clock when he felled Hull’s Uruguayan striker Abel Hernández half a yard into the Everton area, only for the referee Kevin Friend controversially to award the hosts a free-kick on its edge. Jevavic’s effort flashed over the top.

Hernández, looking much more like the £10m player who scored on his Premier League debut in September than the peripheral figure of the autumn months, twice stung the fingertips of Joel Robles before Hull took the lead.

They did so in the 33rd minute when substitute Liam Rosenior slung over a cross from the left and Elmohamady used his greater inches to outjump Leighton Baines at the far post.

Calamity then struck two minutes before the interval when Barry stepped up to try to play offside and was left embarrassed as Jelavic strode past him from an onside position to chase down Hernández’s dink over the top and lob it over an initially hesitant Robles.

Martínez injected greater attacking threat into the visitors by introducing Romelu Lukaku for the second half and switching Ross Barkley from a deep-lying midfield position to a role in behind the front men.

Although Barkley did create Everton’s best chance of scoring – his 53rd-minute ghosting beyond a posse of defenders ended with Allan McGregor beating out his shot – it was all they could muster and a lacklustre afternoon was complete when Alcaraz walked in the 86th minute for an adjudged bodycheck on Jelavic.

Guardian