Hull City 1-1 Coventry City: Aaron Connolly’s late equaliser for hosts cancels out Joel Latibeaudiere’s opener as Tigers move up to fifth place with draw
- Hull City faced off against Coventry City hoping to keep up their impressive form
- Aaron Connolly rescued a point for the Tigers after Joel Latibeaudiere’s opener
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast It’s All Kicking Off!
Joel Latibeaudiere shook off the jetlag and Hull’s defenders but Coventry would have to settle for just a point in a frenetic finish.
The Jamaica international played 74 minutes of his country’s CONCACAF Nations League fixture against Haiti in Kingston just two nights ago.
But despite the 10-hour flight back to the UK, Latibeaudiere was energised enough to play a full 90 here and thumped home a first-half header.
For a long time it looked sufficient to earn them only a second win of the season, but Aaron Connolly had other ideas.
Hull’s incessant second-half pressure had come to resemble a siege and with three minutes left, Liverpool loanee Tyler Morton lofted in a high ball that Connolly met with a deft glancing header into the bottom corner.
Aaron Connolly scored a late equaliser for Hull as they drew 1-1 with Coventry on Friday night
Coventry’s Joel Latibeaudiere’s had put his side ahead after he netted with a thumping header
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It was a deserved leveller because Hull had turned the screw and carved out a number of decent chances beforehand, with Scott Twine denied by Coventry keeper Ben Wilson more than once and Connolly missing an earlier sitter.
It kept the momentum of Hull’s bright start to the season going but was galling for Coventry, who have still won just the once so far.
The Sky Blues needed a reboot after the heartbreak of their Championship play-off final loss to Luton back in May, plus the departures of talismen Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer.
It hasn’t quite come together yet for Mark Robins and his men but they more than played their part in an open contest.
By contrast, it was impossible to escape the feeling of optimism around the MKM Stadium following the Tigers’ hugely encouraging start to the season.
A crowd of 21,888 – the largest here so far this season – arrived in the knowledge that a handsome win would take Hull top ahead of the weekend and were treated to a pre-match light show and flame machines.
The contest took a little time to ignite, however, with Jean Michael Seri the first on either side to get a shot away on 17 minutes.
That effort was deflected wide and from the corner, Connolly drilled a left-footed effort back across goal and wide after Coventry switched off, assuming the ball was going to drift out of play.
Liam Rosenior has adopted a passing game to such an extent his Coventry counterpart Mark Robins compared Hull’s style to Manchester City and Brighton in his pre-match remarks.
One statistic said the Tigers were averaging 478 successful passes per 90 minutes this season prior to this match – 117 more than the last campaign and 186 up on 2021-22.
MATCH FACTS
Hull City (4-2-3-1): Ingram; Coyle (c) (Lokilo 77), Jones, Greaves, Vinagre (Christie 46); Philogene, Slater; Delap, Seri (Morton 59), Twine; Connolly
Substitutes not used: Allsop (GK); McLoughlin, Allahyar, Traore, Vaughan, Smith
Manager: Liam Rosenior
Scorer: Connolly 87
Booked: Connolly
Coventry City (3-4-1-2): Wilson; Binks, McFadzean, Latibeaudiere; Van Ewijk, Eccles, Kelly (c), Dasilva (Bidwell 75); Godden; Ayari (Palmer 64), Wright (Simms 74)
Substitutes not used: Collins (GK); Thomas, Sakamoto, Allen, Kitching, Obikwu
Manager: Mark Robins
Scorer: Latibeaudiere 27
Booked: McFadzean, Bidwell, Eccles, Latibeaudiere, Binks
Referee: Tony Harrington
Attendance: 21,888
Following the draw, Liam Rosenior’s side moved up to fifth place in the Championship
The Sky Blues fought hard and looked set to take home all three points before the late blow
But attempts to play out from then back occasionally got them into trouble. Goalkeeper Matt Ingram passed out to Seri 20 yards out and he was mugged off the ball by Liam Kelly. This time, he got away with it but the crowd wasn’t happy.
Coventry have made a low key start to the season following their Wembley heartbreak in May but their confidence was soon swelling here.
Jay Dasilva drove a shot low and hard across Hull’s six-yard box that was just begging for a touch. Nobody read his intentions, however, and it flew harmlessly wide to Dasilva’s annoyance.
A couple of minutes later, Matt Godden deftly flicked Milan van Ewijk clear down the right side and Hull scrambled it out for a corner.
Joshua Eccles swung it in and there was Latibeaudiere to produce a towering header which nestled in the bottom corner, his first in Sky Blue following a summer move from Swansea.
The Coventry support continued the night’s pyrotechnics by tossing a blue flare onto the pitch during the celebrations.
Hull were rattled – Liam Delap softly gave the ball away and Haji Wright shot over the crossbar, but the hosts might easily have levelled just before half-time.
From a corner of their own, Jacob Greaves flicked on and Connolly was suddenly all alone at the back post, just a few yards out, but could only steer his shot wide.
Hull craved improvement and there was at least a positive start to the second-half when Scott Twine forced a save from Ben Wilson.
Yet there was a paucity at the back as the game opened up that gave Coventry their own optimism – Kelly struck from range and Ingram needed to react and parry it away.
The introduction of Cyrus Christie at right-back energised Hull and he fired a shot over before fizzing across a dangerous ball that Kyle McFadzean almost turned into his own net.
Connolly earlier missed a guilt-edged chance for Hull as he put the ball wide from a few yards
It was a feisty second half of the game, with six yellow cards handed out in the final 10 minutes
Hull continued to push and Twine’s low strike was blocked by Wilson’s outstretched boot following another neat passing interchange.
Indeed, Twine seemed on a one-man mission to haul Hull level, shooting wide from the edge of the box.
The pressure began to tell with Coventry lured into some ill-advised tackles around the box that saw McFadzean, Jake Bidwell and Eccles cautioned.
It suggested Coventry wouldn’t hold out and so it proved.
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