Hull's last-minute set-piece plan stuns Manchester United on opening day

Hull City inflicted a chastening opening-day defeat on Manchester United at the MKM Stadium on Saturday, with head coach Sergej Jakirovic revealing his side had prepared a targeted set-piece plan just 24 hours before kick-off to exploit the visitors’ defensive vulnerabilities.

The newly-promoted Tigers were heavy underdogs heading into the fixture, yet they dominated from the outset and scored twice from dead-ball situations to send United home empty-handed. Semi Ajayi broke the deadlock on 17 minutes, slamming home the rebound after Oli McBurnie’s effort from a whipped corner was saved. Nobel Mendy then put the result beyond doubt with a header from Regan Slater’s free-kick delivery.

“We tried something on Friday, so we had some plan there to try to punish them,” Jakirovic said after the game. “How they’re standing, especially on the wide free-kicks — to make some blocks there — and then we saw Nobel and Semi score.”

United did attempt to respond in the second half, with Bryan Mbeumo creating a couple of openings, but Hull were rarely troubled and fully merited their victory. The result ends a remarkable unbeaten run for United against newly-promoted sides on the opening day of the season — they had won ten and drawn three of their previous 13 such fixtures before Saturday.

Manager Michael Carrick acknowledged the disappointment but insisted the result would not derail his side’s confidence. “Some was okay, bits to improve on. It was never going to be perfect today but going behind and giving ourselves a lot to do makes it more difficult,” Carrick said. “With a promoted team at home, we can’t give them much. We had moments but not that spark to put the chances away. We’re bitterly disappointed with the result today but it won’t knock us.”

United will look to bounce back next weekend when they face another newly-promoted side in Ipswich Town.