Gunners stunned by Tigers

Hull sprang a huge surprise as they came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 at Emirates Stadium.

Geovanni and Cousin on target in 2-1 win

Hull sprang a huge surprise as they came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners could not break down Hull's stubborn resistance in the first half but finally opened the scoring in the 51st minute when Paul McShane bundled the ball into his own net after a terrific run by Theo Walcott. However, Geovanni pulled the Tigers level with a spectacular long-range effort on 62 minutes, and Arsenal were stunned four minutes later as Daniel Cousin headed past Manuel Almunia from a corner. Arsene Wenger's side poured forward in pursuit of an equaliser and created a number of chances, with William Gallas heading against the crossbar and Carlos Vela failing to tuck away the rebound. Hull defended resolutely and Boz Myhill pulled off an acrobatic save from Cesc Fabregas in stoppage time as they secured all three points to climb to sixth in the table.

Brave defending

Early on, Geovanni raided down the right, then went over the crossbar with an overhead effort from the resulting corner, while Marlon King was unfortunate to be called offside when he was sent through. It was Arsenal's cue to go through the gears, but Fabregas dragged a shot wide when given plenty of time on the edge of the area. Emmanuel Adebayor thought he had headed an opener past Myhill but Alan Wiley adjudged him to have pushed Michael Turner before climbing on McShane. There was further desperate and brave defending when Walcott raced through, with Andy Dawson getting back to make the tackle as the teenager prepared to pull the trigger. Walcott was presented with an even clearer opportunity when he got on the end of Emmanuel Eboue's cross but his touch betrayed him and Myhill gathered. Brown had been furious with his players for giving away the ball and his mood did not improve when Denilson elbowed Ian Ashbee, Wiley awarding a free-kick but not booking the youngster. Eboue drilled into the side-netting just before the interval, the closest Arsenal came to a first-half goal. Geovanni had the ball in the net for the visitors but play had been called back for a foul long before he connected with a sweet volley over Almunia. Arsenal had been warned. Fabregas was required to clear off the line when Boateng had an effort from the edge of the area just after the break before the hosts took the lead in the 50th minute. Robin van Persie sent Walcott down the right, the youngster twisting and turning his way to the byline before pulling back for Adebayor. His scuffed effort went past Myhill, with McShane turning the ball into his own net under pressure from Fabregas. Hull threatened through Dean Marney, whose scissor-kick was parried by Almunia before their reply came in the 62nd minute.

Rocket

Geovanni collected the ball on the left, cut inside Walcott and let fly with a rocket into the top corner from 30 yards. Then Cousin scored four minutes later, getting in front of Gallas to head home from a Dawson corner. Carlos Vela was sent on from Wenger's clutch of youngsters on the bench and he went wide after Gallas hit the bar with a header. Myhill then tipped over from Fabregas' drive in stoppage-time as Hull clung on for a famous win.

Arsenal	Team Statistics	Hull City
1	Goals	2
0	1st Half Goals	0
4	Shots on Target	5
12	Shots off Target	2
9	Blocked Shots	2
15	Corners	4
10	Fouls	10
4	Offsides	8
2	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
85.6	Passing Success	70.9
15	Tackles	25
60	Tackles Success	88
63.1	Possession	36.9
62.1	Territorial Advantage	37.9