Swansea City vs Hull City. Premier League.
Swansea.com StadiumAttendance20,024.
Saturday 20 August 2016 18:25, UK
Newly-promoted Hull caused another shock as late goals from Shaun Maloney and Abel Hernandez gave them a 2-0 win over Swansea.
The managerless Tigers were the bookmakers' favourites for relegation after starting the campaign with just 13 fit senior players, but they followed up their shock win over champions Leicester with an impressive victory at the Liberty Stadium.
Substitute Maloney put them in front when he turned home Robert Snodgrass' corner just six minutes after coming on, and he was the provider for the second, springing Swansea's offside trap and teeing up Hernandez to finish past Lukasz Fabianski in stoppage time.
The win puts Hull third in the Premier League table behind Manchester City and Manchester United, but it was a bitterly disappointing afternoon for the Swans, who dominated for long periods and missed a string of chances in the first half.
Swansea were swiftly on the front foot on a rainy afternoon in South Wales, with their best chance arriving just six minutes in, when Hull goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic tipped Gylfi Sigurdsson's 20-yard drive onto the crossbar.
Hull were largely restricted to occasional counter-attacks as they struggled to get out of their own half, but they should have taken the lead on the quarter-hour mark, when Snodgrass fed Adama Diomande in Swansea's box. The striker created space to shoot, but his wild effort flew harmlessly wide.
At the other end, Fernando Llorente was proving a handful for the Hull defence, but he could not find a finish as he sent two headers wide. On another occasion he showed strength to pin his marker and tee up Leroy Fer, whose first-time effort went over the bar from eight yards out.
Jack Cork sent a long-range shot just past Jakupovic's far post and his Swansea team-mate Wayne Routledge backheeled wide after good work from Modou Barrow, but Hull held on until half-time.
Francesco Guidolin's side continued to dominate possession after the break, but the first clear chance went Hull's way, as Snodgrass' low shot was deflected wide following Andrew Robertson's cut-back on the left-hand side.
Swansea threw on Jefferson Montero and Ki Sung-yueng in an attempt to find a breakthrough, but Hull defended resiliently, with Curtis Davies and make-shift centre-back Jake Livermore excelling in the heart of their back four.
Davies forced an acrobatic save from Fabianski 12 minutes from time, but Hull's opener came from the resulting corner, as the Tigers skipper flicked Snodgrass' corner into the path of Maloney.
It was a sucker-punch for the home side, but still they struggled to break Hull down. Their best chance came when Kyle Naughton's goalbound drive was blocked by Davies, but the Tigers duly went up the other end to clinch the second goal and wrap up the win.
Player ratings
Swansea: Fabianski (6), Kingsley (6), Amat (6), Fernandez (6), Naughton (6), Fer (6), Cork (6), Sigurdsson (6), Routledge (6), Barrow (7), Llorente (6)
Subs: Montero (6), Ki (6), Dyer (5)
Hull: Jakupovic (7), Robertson (7), Davies (9), Livermore (8), Elmohamady (7), Meyler (7), Huddlestone (7), Snodgrass (7), Clucas (7), Hernandez (7), Diomande (6)
Subs: Maloney (8)
Man of the match: Curtis Davies
