Saints lose to Hull to miss chance to leapfrog Leeds in second

Saints lose to Hull to miss chance to leapfrog Leeds in second

Anass Zaroury bagged his first goal for Hull as the Tigers stunned Southampton 2-1 for a fourth straight away win in the Sky Bet Championship.

Burnley loanee Zaroury tapped in before Fabio Carvalho, borrowed from Liverpool, thrashed in Hull’s second to lift them into the play-off places.

Joe Aribo pulled one back for Saints but it was their first home defeat in 12 matches, with their automatic promotion push derailed by back-to-back Tuesday defeats as they slipped down to fourth in the table.

Southampton’s first half peaked in the eighth minute when Joe Rothwell was denied by Ryan Allsop when through one-on-one.

From then on Hull tore the hosts apart with attacking flair, although Saints also brought about their own downfall with some loose passing in midfield and defence.

Championship fixtures | table | highlightsStream the Championship and more with NOWGet Sky Sports | Download the Sky Sports App

The Tigers broke the deadlock in the 11th minute when a long ball from Allsop caught Saints off guard. Ryan Giles carried before the ball found its way to Jaden Philogene. The winger’s powerful shot was parried by Gavin Bazunu into the path of Zaroury, who tapped in his first goal in five days short of a year.

Philogene had an effort battered away at the near post and Abdulkadir Omur stabbed wide after Carvalho had scampered down the left as the visitors looked to double their advantage.

Southampton did not learn from Bazunu’s poor pass to Rothwell which allowed Jean Michael Seri to shoot, as 35 seconds later they were two down after Rothwell had stumbled on the ball on the edge of his own area. Philogene plucked the ball off him before allowing Carvalho to sweetly score past Bazunu.

Having not shipped two goals in a match since October, Saints had conceded a double in three of their last four games.

The Tigers tore the disorientated hosts apart in the last 10 minutes of the half. Zaroury lobbed Bazunu but the ball bounced wide, and then the Moroccan swung a shot just wide.

A clearly irate Russell Martin swung the axe on Rothwell, Sekou Mara and Adam Armstrong at half-time – which had been greeted by boos from the home support.

The fresh legs of David Brooks, Che Adams and Joe Aribo saw a slight uptick in performance as Will Smallbone sliced wide following a good move before Ryan Manning aimed for the bottom corner but missed.

Brooks lifted an effort onto the roof of the net but they had to wait until the 88th minute to have a goalscoring chance in the second half. Aribo took it, the Nigeria international squirting in after being teed up by Adams, but it did not prevent a first home loss since September 19.

The managers

Southampton’s Russell Martin:

“First half was rubbish, the second half was very good but that doesn’t matter very much when you’re 2-0 down.

“No one cares if you play well in the second half when you aren’t good in the first half and are behind.

“Hull were good, we knew that from the first game (a last-minute 2-1 win for Saints in October). We had a good chance with Rothwell before they can get into the game, we don’t take it, and somehow that doesn’t spur us on to go more aggressive.

“Their goal is something we worked on in training yesterday as we’ve seen them do it a lot, so to allow that to happen is a nonsense.

“Last week’s defeat (their first after 25 games unbeaten, against Bristol City) was down to a lack of aggression, this week it was a lack of courage. The two things you need is courage and aggression.”

Hull’s Liam Rosenior:

“We’ve come away to an outstanding team, with outstanding players and an outstanding manager, and we had to be brave.

“That first-half performance is exactly what I’ve been working so hard to bring to the club. I have bored all the supporters talking about the process but seeing that first-half performance was top.

“I am so proud of the lads but I don’t want to get carried away. I just see it as the next step for this team.

“From the outside it is a big step but inside I don’t take any notice of runs or what we can and can’t achieve.

“This is a young team that will make mistakes, and we’ll make more mistakes along the way, but when it comes off it is a delight to watch.”