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Ten Man City Down Hull

 

Manchester City recovered from the early sending-off of Vincent Kompany to beat Hull City 2-0 at the KC Stadium and return to winning ways after a disappointing week.

Having bowed out of the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in the past seven days, Man City’s Premier League title hopes were in danger of suffering a dent when Kompany was given his marching orders after just 10 minutes.

However, David Silva netted a wonderful goal three minutes later and Manuel Pellegrini’s side held firm in a commanding performance.

Edin Dzeko added a late second to seal three vital points as City climbed back into second place and kept the pressure on Chelsea at the top.

Pellegrini made four changes to his line-up following the midweek defeat in Barcelona, but was quickly forced to rethink his strategy after Kompany was dismissed inside the opening 10 minutes.

Joe Hart was finally called into action to save from Shane Long, but the Tigers’ attacks were repeatedly cut short by offside calls as the much-maligned Demichelis marshalled his defence impressively.

Hull did manage to work their way into a good position in the 69th minute, but George Boyd went down in the area after playing the ball round Hart. Replays showed there was no contact and as referee Mason waved away appeals for a penalty, a furious Hart confronted Boyd for diving, landing the England keeper a booking as the Hull midfielder escaped without punishment.

Boyd was involved again moments later when he was barged by Fernandinho in an aerial challenge but again Mason let play go on, and Man City should have put the result beyond doubt within minutes.

The ball broke kindly for Fernandinho in the Hull box after a great piece of skill by the sparkling Silva, but he squandered a glorious opportunity to make it 2-0 as he shot horribly wide from the centre of the area.

Dzeko was also denied by a fine McGregor save as Man City launched a late break, but he was able to grab his goal in the 90th minute with a neat finish after being played through by Silva’s sumptuous outside-of-the-boot pass.