Defensive problems mounting up for Bruce as champions show their class

Amid all the talk of lavish admission prices on Saturday, Steve Bruce ended up being more concerned with extravagance of a different sort.
Hull City's Abel Hernandez (centre) celebrates after scoring his side's second goalHull City's Abel Hernandez (centre) celebrates after scoring his side's second goal
Hull City's Abel Hernandez (centre) celebrates after scoring his side's second goal

Many Hull City punters had to part with £50 of their hard-earned to witness Saturday’s six-goal clash and while there were few complaints about being short-changed, in terms of the spectacle, the Tigers chief was ultimately left to count the cost.

Four concessions against the champions, handed a run for their money for two-thirds of the weekend encounter, provided further references to Hull’s charitable status.

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They have now conceded 11 goals in six league matches and are without a clean sheet since the opening day of the season. In total, Bruce’s side have shipped 13 goals in their last five games in all competitions and their tally of seven league goals against at the KC Stadium is already higher than the number of home concessions in the first half of 2013-14.

For an old-fashioned centre-half in Bruce, it is an understandable concern and small wonder he is toying with going back to the future to remedy the situation, namely returning to the 3-5-2 system that served his side so well for large parts of last term.

Bruce said: “I made no secret that we got into the Premier League by having defensive skills as a team.

“I am not just talking about the defence. You have got to defend as a team.

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“It is okay blaming back fours and goalkeepers, but can you defend as a team? We have got to do that better.

“Who knows, we might go back to playing what we did so successfully (3-5-2). Maybe it is the right time.”

That his Hull side showed commendable character after drawing level at 2-2 after trailing 2-0 with just 11 minutes on the clock at least provided a modicum of consolation for Bruce, who would have been entitled to fear the worst after Edin Dzeko’s stunner put a second blue on the scoreboard early in proceedings.

The Bosnian’s cracker represented the ninth goal scored by a Manchester City player against Yorkshire opposition in under an hour after their 7-0 second-half obliteration of Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday.

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It looked like being the longest of afternoons for those of an amber-and-black persuasion, but they were in for a nice surprise.

In the event, it was the 
benevolence of £32m defender Eliaquim Mangala, who came bearing gifts, which helped the Tigers come in at half-time with parity restored after a madcap first period.

A seventh-minute strike from Sergio Aguero, who almost opened his account in the first minute, only to be denied by Allan McGregor, and a magnificent 30-yard curler from Dzeko seemingly settled the game’s account with under 15 minutes played.

But French international Mangala had other ideas, heading in Ahmed Elmohamady’s centre past Willy Caballero, preferred to England No 1 Joe Hart and then injudiciously felling Abel Hernandez in the 32th minute, with the Tigers’ £10m record signing sending Caballero the wrong way from the spot.

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In the 15-minute spell before the break, Hull set about their illustrious visitors with a ferocity and intent that they will certainly have not encountered much on their way to the league title last season.

But ultimately a touch or two of class told in the second period with goals from Dzeko, supplied by the immaculate Silva and a late fourth from substitute Frank Lampard sealing the deal following Pablo Zabaleta’s assist three minutes from time.

Young Scottish defender Andrew Robertson admitted that he along with everyone else connected with the club was staring down the barrel after the champions forged an early advantage.

That he and his team-mates instigated a stirring renaissance was commendable in the extreme, but ultimately the visitors had too much in their locker.

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He said: “I think everyone in the stadium (Hull supporters) were fearing the worst a wee bit at 2-0 down.

“They won 7-0 in midweek and can do that to any team and put five, six or seven past most in the Premier League probably. We were 2-0 down and you look at it that there were just 10 minutes on the clock.

“But we showed some great character to get back to 2-2 and probably could have been in the lead going into half-time.

“In the second half, we were pressing, but they got their goal and didn’t really look back and we can’t really argue with the result.

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“I think it was a wee bit frustrating in the first 10 minutes. We had worked all week to try and stop them and the plan goes out of the window when you are 2-0 down.

“But we showed character to get back in and did rattle them and they were under the cosh and we had some great chances,” he said.

“It is a tough one because probably on another day, if we had played like that against most teams, we probably would have got a positive result.

“But we didn’t get three points, so you can’t be happy with it. But there are positives to take from it. I think that was the message from the gaffer.”