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, two first-half goals sealing the promoted side's first top-flight victory in nine years and confounding almost everyone who had written them off beforehand.
Senne Lammens produced smart stops to deny Oli McBurnie and tip a dangerous Ryan Giles cross behind, but the resulting corner did for United: the delivery was flicked goalward and headed off the line, only for Semi Ajayi to force in the rebound in the 16th minute. Nobel Mendy doubled the lead in the 37th, heading in from a Regan Slater free-kick on his debut. It was a difficult opening game for Michael Carrick, who was appointed United manager permanently in May: his side could not find a way back despite controlling long spells of possession, and at half-time he withdrew the booked Patrick Dorgu for Marcus Rashford in search of more urgency.
The result answered a wave of pre-match scepticism. The former England international Joe Cole had said on a podcast before kick-off that he would be "stunned if they stayed up," one of several assessments that had written off Sergej Jakirovic's side. Hull's supporters had the last word instead, an "Are you watching, Joe Cole?" chant ringing round the MKM Stadium after Mendy's goal and again at the final whistle. Club owner Acun Ilicali, asked about the doubters beforehand, said he preferred it that way: "That's what we like, I like, our fans like, because we want to be underdogs. If nobody thinks we will achieve something, I like it like this." Regan Slater, whose free-kick had set up Mendy's goal, was just as pointed afterwards: "It's massive - you can see what it means to everyone," he said. "We picked up where we left off." Hull, promoted through the play-offs and playing their first top-flight match since 2017, delivered a result that put those forecasts firmly to bed.
United's other summer arrivals fared little better after the break. Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos, both making their competitive debuts, were withdrawn together in the 66th minute as Carrick reshaped his midfield. Rashford, handed the number 9 shirt after returning from a loan at Barcelona, had given United their only sustained threat since coming on for Dorgu at the interval, without ever finding a way through.