Hull City marked their return to the Premier League with a stunning 2-0 win over Manchester United at the MKM Stadium on Saturday lunchtime: their first league win over United since 1974, and the promoted side's first top-flight victory in nine years.
Both goals came from set pieces worked on in training the previous day, manager Sergej Jakirovic said. United failed to defend a corner at either post in the 16th minute, the delivery flicked to the back for Oli McBurnie, whose shot was stopped on the line by Senne Lammens before Semi Ajayi forced in the rebound. Nobel Mendy doubled the lead in the 37th, heading in a Regan Slater free-kick on his debut. "We came out the blocks firing, had a really good start," Ajayi said afterwards.
The result answered a wave of pre-match scepticism. Joe Cole had said on a podcast before kick-off that he would be "stunned if they stayed up", and Hull's supporters had the last word, an "Are you watching, Joe Cole?" chant ringing round the MKM Stadium after Mendy's goal. "We're not just here to make the numbers up, we're here to stay in this division," said captain Lewie Coyle afterwards.
Rashford, back from a loan at Barcelona, replaced the booked Patrick Dorgu at half-time without finding a way through, and Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos were withdrawn together in the 66th minute. Hull's afternoon had its own alarm: Ajayi and Mendy were both withdrawn in the 63rd minute, the latter injured, with Lucas Herrington, an 18-year-old debutant signed for a record fee for an Australian teenager, introduced in Mendy's place. Coyle followed in the 69th, also injured, and Jakirovic said after the match that all three would be assessed over the following 24 hours.