Hull City vs Norwich City. Sky Bet Championship.
MKM StadiumAttendance17,028.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Hull City and Norwich City at the MKM Stadium as Oscar Estupinan scored twice to seal victory for the Tigers on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday 13 August 2022 18:30, UK
Norwich remain without a Sky Bet Championship victory this season following a humbling 2-1 defeat at Hull.
Oscar Estupinan's tap-in after 42 minutes, his first goal for the club, put the hosts in control.
The Columbia international then put the gloss on a fine performance with another close-range strike after 62 minutes.
Marcelino Nunez's excellent free-kick 10 minutes later gave Norwich hope, but the damage had already been done.
Canaries fans must also have been left in a state of some confusion over how their side did not open the scoring within the first 10 minutes.
Dean Smith's men flew out of the traps and seemed destined to take advantage of Hull's wayward early passing.
No better was that illustrated than after five minutes when Nunez took advantage of sluggish defending with a stout challenge and a smart dart into the penalty area.
Matt Ingram stopped that initial effort with his right shin, with the rebound falling kindly to Teemu Pukki.
Pukki ought to have given his central strike from 10 yards greater loft, but the Finland international's effort was nonetheless heading into the bottom right-hand corner.
Ingram, though, did exceptionally well to pre-empt what Pukki had in mind and got his legs in the way to flip the ball over the crossbar.
Hull were awful in the early stages, but they finally hit their stride just when Norwich had looked like cutting loose.
Estupinan was a persistent, muscular threat, while enigmatic playmaker Ozan Tufan grew into the game.
The Turkey international's 25th-minute hit from the edge of Norwich's penalty box, the ball just skewing over the crossbar, was a neat representation of the marked shift in control of the match.
That was underscored when Hull gained the lead, albeit in slapstick fashion.
Grant Hanley looked to have Estupinan under control following Benjamin Tetteh's chip into the area, with Max Aarons on hand to clear the danger.
But Aarons opted to shift the ball upfield with his left foot, instead of aiming for calmer waters towards the right.
His clearance struck Andrew Omobamidele's groin, with the ricochet snaffled up by Estupinan.
Hull head coach Shota Arveladze might have expected the visitors to begin the second half with the same intensity as they started the match.
But, if anything, Hull had the edge following the restart and scored a second when Tufan's inswinging corner caused chaos.
Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul twice thwarted the Tigers, but his second save from Alfie Jones fell to Estupinan, who could not miss.
Norwich awoke from their slumber when Nunez unleashed a thunderous effort after Josh Sargant was fouled on the edge of the area.
Fellow substitute Aaron Ramsey later missed a sitter when he battered Aaron's low pass over the crossbar after 77 minutes.
Ramsey also saw his late header cleared off the line by Jacob Greaves as Hull held on for three deserved points.
Hull's Shota Arveladze: "I'm not saying this is the best game we've played but, strategically, we did very well. It's not about respect (for Norwich) - we have been watching their games and we just didn't want to give them time (on the ball). Maybe we started a bit too early to kill the game (after Nunez scored), but before that we had a really good game.
"I think it's a great start to the season. In some points they dominated, but not with really clear chances, they only had one clear chance in the second half. You have to accept they have a stronger squad. It's a Premier League team. They dominated, definitely, but that's why we played two different systems and it worked."
Norwich's Dean Smith: "We dominated the game and gave away a calamitous (first) goal. It was certainly an eventful afternoon. For the last 20 minutes we were probably playing attack versus defence, but we were punished by giving away a stupid goal.
"We're giving ourselves tough things to come back from with silly mistakes, but I don't think after three games there's any cause to panic. We should have won the game in the first 20 minutes - the chances we created and the players who they fell to. The currency is goals. We've got enough (goals) in our squad, but sometimes you get some strange results at this time of the season."
