Stoke City continued their woeful start to the season thanks to a smash and grab performance from Hull City.
Stoke & Hull signings Ramadan Sobhi and Markus Henriksen
It was a difficult night for Stoke City at the Bet365 stadium last night, as they looked like a team devoid of confidence and certainly devoid of any luck. The Potters dominated in every aspect of play, except for fouls committed and goals scored.
The best assessment of the game would be that Stoke dominated for 44 minutes of each half, only for Hull City to score in the 45th of each. It was an old school smash and grab from a very new looking Hull City side, who appeared to be rather disjointed at times.
The game was not one filled with quality, and the player ratings reflect that, with only 4 players on either team scoring higher than a 7. Both teams player ratings are below:
Stoke City
Defeat was a tough pill to swallow for Stoke City manager Mark Hughes last night
Lee Grant – 6
Hull City only had 3 shots on target, and the 2 that resulted in goals were virtually unstoppable, leaving little blame attached to on-loan shot stopper Lee Grant.
Glen Johnson – 7
The former Chelsea and Liverpool full back looked a real threat going forward, and alongside Marko Arnautovic, the pair gave Andy Robertson a tough time, particularly in the first half.
Ryan Shawcross – 7
Ryan Shawcross dealt with everything that came his way in typically solid and reliable fashion. Made one important challenge in the first half.
Bruno Martins Indi – 6
Clearly more comfortable at centre-half than full-back, but still not the complete defensive performance Stoke fans would have liked to have seen. In the second half, Martins Indi lost possession on the half way line with no-one back, forcing him to take Dieumerci Mbokani down and accept a yellow card.
Eric Pieters – 6
Not as much of a threat down the left as Johnson was down the right, but defensively astute and solid enough to stake a claim for a return to the first team.
Marko Arnautovic – 7
Arnautovic in action with David Meyler
Marko Arnautovic had another good game for the Potters. Allowed all the time in the world to pick his spot by Hull, the Austrian did so, with a good left footed finish into the corner of the net.
Geoff Cameron – 6
An unspectacular performance from Geoff Cameron, who lacked speed and precision with his passes to maintain pressure on the opposition at times.
Joe Allen – 7
A decent performance by the summer recruit, Joe Allen isn’t the defensive midfielder which Stoke so desperately need, but he’s good at what he does. Busy in the centre of midfield and put in some dangerous corners which his teammates failed to capitalise upon.
Giannelli Imbula – 8
Substituted in the second half, Stoke City’s record signing Giannelli Imbula had a good first half. Gliding past two or three men at times, his final ball can be suspect, but he was still among the best players on the pitch last night.
Ramadan Sobhi – 8
Ramadan Sobhi has earned rave reviews for his performance against Hull, putting in a very good shift and being a constant thorn in Hull City’s side. A goal would have rounded off an impressive performance.
Wilfried Bony – 6
Held the ball up well at times, but didn’t look at all sharp in the box. A shadow of the man who needed just half chances to score goals at Swansea City.
Hull City’s win sees them through to the last 16
Hull City
David Marshall – 9
A man of the match performance on his debut from David Marshall, who apart from a couple of stray kicks was faultless. Eldin Jakupovic has had a good start to the season but Marshall made a very good claim for the number one shirt.
James Weir – 6
It is difficult to judge a player playing out of position on his professional debut. James Weir struggled to cope at times defensively, but never shied away and made one very impressive run in the second half.
Harry Maguire – 6
Harry Maguire didn’t do enough to take Jake Livermore’s place in the Tigers starting XI for league games. In fairness to Maguire, he hasn’t played a lot of football recently, but his rustiness showed.
Curtis Davies – 8
Whilst we have been used to performances of 10’s every week from Curtis Davies, he was still very good against Stoke.
Andy Robertson – 6
Partly to blame for Stoke’s first goal, standing off Marko Arnautovic for a long time, Robertson had a poor first half. He looked back to his usual self in the second half though and made some dangerous forward runs as well as tightening up at the back.
David Meyler – 4
A difficult game for David Meyler, the midfielder misplaced pass after pass, and has probably lost his place in the team for Saturday’s trip to Anfield. He worked hard as always and didn’t let his head drop, but it was a tough evening for the Irishman.
Ryan Mason – 7
Hull City’s Ryan Mason celebrates scoring a sublime volley
Withdrawn in the second half after scoring a sensational volley, Ryan Mason looks certain to start Hull City’s game against Liverpool. Mason was quiet but tidy, aside from his spectacular equaliser.
Markus Henriksen – 7
Hull City’s Markus Henriksen scores their second goal
A quiet first half for Markus Henriksen, but a goal and an assist on your debut has to go down as a successful evening. Strong on the ball and athletic in the middle of the park, he showed a sharp eye for goal and an early indication of why he bagged 19 goals last season.
Will Keane – 5
Grew into the game a little but Will Keane had a difficult first start for Hull City. Perhaps struggling to play out wide rather than through the middle, the youngster had difficulties keeping hold of the ball.
Dieumerci Mbokani – 7
Despite having very little to work with, Dieumerci Mbokani looked decent whenever he was given genuine service. Feeding off scraps all game and up against two big, strong central defenders, Mbokani didn’t have the impact he would have liked, but showed a willingness and threat once more.
Shaun Maloney – 6
It is tempting to give Shaun Maloney a 7 purely for that match-winning flick to Markus Henriksen which set-up the winner, but over the entire game, a 6 is a fair assessment. The diminutive Scot always seems more effective off the bench, and will be a very useful player from there this season for Mike Phelan.
Hull City will now face Bristol City in the last 16 of the EFL Cup
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