Hull City 1-1 Norwich City: FLW report as Tigers and Canaries settle for a point | OneFootball

FLW report from the MKM Stadium

Hull City and Norwich City cancelled each other out at the MKM Stadium, with the sides who have different short-term ambitions forced to settle for a 1-1 draw.

The hosts climbed back out of the Championship relegation zone on Friday night after Derby County's 4-0 drubbing at the hands of QPR, and came out of the traps flying with Matt Crooks' first goal on home soil after 13 minutes.

However, their play-off chasing visitors drew level at the start of the second period thanks to the instinct of USMNT international, Josh Sargent.

A point for the Tigers keeps them in 21st, taking them to the 30-point mark with 14 games remaining, whilst Norwich were unable to close the gap on the play-off places as they went three encounters without success, although their unbeaten run over Saturday's opponents has now extended to five games.

Hull City 1-1 Norwich City

The Tigers made a bright start to the encounter, with the first chance coming after just five minutes as Steven Alzate was able to send Joe Gelhardt bursting down the right flank, but the Leeds loanee's toe-poke was turned behind by Angus Gunn.

The Colombian was then presented with a golden opportunity to net his first in Black and Amber after a strong run from Louie Barry on his home debut, before scuffing his low drive wide of the mark, just minutes before Gelhardt would test Gunn's resolve for the second time inside the first 10 minutes.

Hull were eventually rewarded on 13 minutes, as more neat work from Gelhardt and Lewie Coyle on the right side gave the full-back plenty of time to fizz a low ball across the box, with Matt Crooks the grateful recipient as he netted his second goal since joining from Real Salt Lake last month.

The first sign of a response from Norwich came from Jacob Wright, but the Manchester City loanee's effort showed no signs of troubling Ivor Pandur.

After a sustained period of possession from Hoff Thorup's side, Barry went in search of his first Championship goal after a sublime over-the-top pass from Gelhardt, but a strong deflection off Shane Duffy stifled that particular opportunity, with the latter of the Hull duo also seeing an improvised effort deflected wide on 27 minutes.

Chances for the visitors were few and far between in the first 45 minutes, and Duffy was left to cut a frustrated figure as his unopposed header from a sumptuous Kellen Fisher free-kick failed to hit the target on the half-hour mark.

The division's top scorer, Borja Sainz, then weaved his way past Sean McLoughlin but found no one in white to tap into an empty net, and just seconds afterwards saw a tame effort fly straight into the grasp of Hull's Croatian shot-stopper.

After withstanding a 15-minute period of Norwich pressure, Hull were able to avoid a repeat of their last MKM outing against Stoke City, seeing out a 1-0 advantage at the interval.

But, all of their work would come undone just two minutes into the second period as Josh Sargent scored his ninth goal of the season, connecting superbly from five yards to flick Fisher's wicked delivery past Pandur.

Selles' side's first response to the setback saw a powerful drive from McLoughlin turned behind for a corner, with nothing doing from the resulting set-play.

Just after the hour-mark, substitute Mason Burstow flashed a speculative effort across the Norwich net, with the former Chelsea man's introduction seeing Gelhardt revert to a left-wing position as Barry's services were sacrificed. He would then see another attempt to notch his third for the club thwarted by Duffy after a neat sequence of play between himself, McLoughlin and Crooks inside the Norwich penalty area.

Midway through the second period, Coyle was dispossessed by Sainz in a dangerous area, with the Spaniard's cutback falling at the feet of Wright, who stung the palms of Pandur with a fizzing volley before Gelhardt then sent another warning sign of his own which fell wide of the target.

With 15 minutes remaining, the Tigers would be counting their lucky stars as Sainz was unable to add to his 15-goal haul, initially hitting the post from close range, before the Hull rearguard just about scrambled his follow-up to safety.

As time began to run out, Canaries substitute Jack Stacey was then left shocked as no one of a Norwich persuasion could connect with his fine cross from the right as it evaded all inside the six-yard box. Hull were then unable to take advantage of this and a goalkeeping mishap from Gunn, with Regan Slater's subsequent effort sent straight at the Scotland international.

Heading into four minutes of additional time, Duffy looked to secure a comeback victory for the visitors, but his well-taken effort was blocked by his compatriot, Egan, in what was the last meaningful action of an end-to-end clash.

Player Ratings

Hull City

Ivor Pandur - 6.5

Lewie Coyle - 7.5

John Egan - 6.5

Alfie Jones - 6.5

Sean McLoughlin - 7.5

Regan Slater - 7

Steven Alzate - 7.5 (Matazo 78" - 6.5)

Matt Crooks - 7.5 (Kamara 78" - 6)

Joe Gelhardt - 7

Joao Pedro - 6 (Joseph 69" - 6)

Louie Barry - 6.5 (Burstow 58" - 6.5)

Unused Subs: Thimothee Lo-Tutala, Cody Drameh, Matty Jacob, Gustavo Puerta, Nordin Amrabat

Norwich City

Angus Gunn - 6

Kellen Fisher - 7.5 (Stacey 76" - 6)

Shane Duffy - 7

Callum Doyle - 7

Lucien Mahovo - 6.5 (Chrisene 82" - 6.5)

Anis Ben Slimane - 7

Jacob Wright - 7 (Schwartau 82" - 6)

Jacob Sorensen - 6.5

Matej Jurasek - 6 (Dobbin 64" - 6)

Borja Sainz - 7

Josh Sargent - 7.5 (Crnac 76" - 6)

Unused Subs: George Long, Ruairi McConville, Onel Hernandez, Jose Cordoba

Attendance

The attendance at the MKM Stadium this afternoon was 22,141.

Ruben Selles' post-match reaction

"Every point is good for us in the situation we're in," Selles said post-match.

"I think in the last four home games we took absolutely nothing, so that's an improvement. We have arguments that today, we deserved the three points, but the opposition also had a couple of chances to take them, so it was competitive and equal and the point is fair for everybody.

"We always want to get three points, but the last experiences have told us that in games like today, we will not get a point. The main point today was to prove we are competitive and we want to be competitive and get the three points - we got one, but in the position we are in, it has put us a little closer to the target and we will build from that.

Asked about his side's performance after Crooks' goal, the Spaniard added: "I think, we scored the goal and immediately went for the second one, but sometimes you play against opponents, like today, they are one of the best opponents in terms of possession in the league. They started to connect a little bit better and that's what started to push us backwards.

Selles also believed his side had control of the game despite Sargent's early second-half leveller.

"We managed the last part of the first half in the proper way, keeping the zero against us. But, the goal at the start of the second half cost us five-ten minutes in the second half to start again. But, after that, we managed the game and created some chances."

He concluded: "I think the game was equal, but obviously, we tried to build from the goal."

Johannes Hoff Thorup's post-match reaction

Hoff Thorup's reflections gave a slightly differing perspective, which included frustrations over how Norwich performed in the early exchanges.

"A really poor start to the game," he began.

"The first 15 minutes, we were off and not close enough in our pressing game. We allowed them too much time, too much space and we could see the first goal coming, so we adjusted straight away in our high press to be more compact in the first line and force them more on the outside, which I think was a step that gave us more control in the game from 15-20 minutes until the end."

"After the shaky start, I think our performance was a good one," the Dane continued.

"We tried to be the same (as Hull), we just weren't close enough in our movement and decision-making. It was too easy for them to find the space outside of us and create crossing opportunities, switches of play, some diagonal passes where our distances weren't right, probably because of a new constellation in midfield and new attackers, but that is no excuse.

"We also saw that, when we adjusted it, we got better, so that was a decision from all of us.

"We limited those situations afterwards and I also think, with the quality we had afterwards and the amount of situations we had in their box, the momentum shifted and it was more difficult for them to find their rhythm."

When quizzed about Sargent's fifth goal in as many games, Hoff Thorup was quick to cite his half-time team talk when it came to improvements in end product from his full-backs, Fisher and Mahovo.

"I told Kellen to step up in his crossing game, because it wasn't good enough in the first half, I told Lucien to do the same," the Canaries boss stated.

"Of course the delivery is a good one, we know that Josh will always be first in those situations if the delivery is of such good quality.

"Jacob Wright also developed in the game, he got better and better and better and the control we had in the midfield for us, we created a lot of situations with low crosses where it's just a couple of centimetres away from us being on the end of those to score a second goal.