Hull City frustrate and thrill in equal measure while tempers rise at Millwall.
The Tigers earned a point in a four-goal thriller after losing at Ipswich.
Jaden Philogene’s brilliant first-half performance wasn’t enough to help Hull City return to winning ways against Millwall on Saturday afternoon, as the Tigers were held to a 2-2 draw.
A exciting battle ebbed and flowed throughout, with City coming from behind to lead 2-1 thanks to Philogene’s first goal for the club, and within five minutes, he turned provider to set up Adama Traore.
Despite being in command for the remainder of the half, City were unable to extend their lead, and in the second half, Gary Rowett’s side improved while the Tigers were frequently treading water, eventually succumbing when Joe Bryan equalised.
We spoke to Cyrus Christie about racism in sports, particularly football, in the lead-up to the game, but once again, a professional football player attempting to perform his job has been subjected to something that has no place in society.
Punishment is one way to deal with it, and if proven guilty, the perpetrator should never, ever set foot in a football stadium in the country.
Go for the throat
Make no mistake about it, when City equalised and then scored the second it was one-way traffic. They were so on top it was embarrassing. Millwall’s heads had gone, the crowd had turned and Rosenior’s side should have gone for the throat. You always felt there would be a response from Millwall in the second half, but the visitors allowed it to happen.
After going a goal down, City wrestled the initiative back from the hosts but in the second half, that never came and in the end, will have been glad to have come out with a point. This is another example of where Rosenior’s side does not yet have that killer instinct the successful teams have.
The draws are stacking up, and once again, this is two points dropped in a game they really should have won having done so well to come from behind.
Jaden’s magic
In the first half, Jaden Philogene was unplayable and a pleasure to watch. His run and finish to pull City level was top class as he bagged his first goal for the club, and the run to latch onto the poor header by Danny McNamara was clever, before showing terrific composure to turn and slot it across for Adama Traore to score.
Many players would have tried the shot at goal when they got on the end of it, and while some may have scored, others would have snatched at it and missed, but such was his presence of mind, Philogene stopped, excited a lovely turn before laying it on a place for Traore to score.
The winger has been gradually getting better in each performance and his first half showing went onto another level. The challenge for him, is to replicate that for 90 minutes, particularly when he’s pinned back like he was in the second period and find a way to overcome those challenges.
Missing key men
City were once again robbed of three key players on Saturday in Lewie Coyle, Ozan Tufan and Regan Slater through injury, and there’s little doubt for periods in the game, just as they did at Portman Road, they badly missed the energy and tenacity of Slater plus the guile and craft of Tufan.
Tufan in particular started the season like an absolute train and yet again, his absence has been felt. Here’s hoping the international break can buy him the time to get fit and ready for action.
