Hull vs Leicester report: Managerless Tigers sink defending champions with Robert Snodgrass strike

Hull City 2 Leicester City 1: For the first time since 1989, the top flight's reigning champions began their title defence with a defeat

Snodgrass celebrates his second-half winner (Getty)

Hull City forgot their woes to subject champions Leicester City to defeat on the opening day of the new Premier League campaign, courtesy of goals by Adama Diomande and Robert Snodgrass.

Pre-season optimism had been lost on the Tigers with Steve Bruce’s resignation the headline on a torrid 77 days since the joys of the Championship play-off final in May. No new signings, a glut of crippling injuries and a deeply unpopular owner have made Hull favourites for a quick-fire return to the second-tier.

Mike Phelan, the caretaker manager thrust into a dire situation, allowed himself a wry smile at full-time as his band of no-hopers knocked Leicester’s crown askew with an emphatic, assured display of defiance in East Yorkshire.

His counterpart, Claudio Ranieri, the man who had records tumbling at his feet last season, now holds the unenviable tag as the first manager to suffer defeat on the opening day of a Premier League title defence. It was no less than his wasteful, lethargic Leicester side deserved. Riyad Mahrez’s penalty, bookended by the two Hull strikes, was a gift from Mike Dean they scarcely warranted.

The visitors’ first opportunity of the match came on 18 minutes. Lightning-quick Ahmed Musa, a club-record £16m signing from CSKA Moscow, evaded Jake Livermore on the left flank, cutting inside for Jamie Vardy. The England striker swiped at his shot, however, to a chorus of raucous cackling from the home faithful, before Mahrez then arrowed an effort just wide.

Hull players celebrate after taking the lead against champions Leicester (Getty)

The Algerian’s wizardry bedazzled defences aplenty en route to the title last term. Side-stepping both Andrew Robertson and David Meyler, Mahrez slid it across to Danny Drinkwater in the penalty area. The Manchester United graduate, hoping to cement a place in Sam Allardyce’s England squad this winter, could only curl his attempt across goal.

Leicester were struggling to handle a slow pitch and an opponent determined to bog them down in the packed midfield quagmire. The Foxes’ ruthless touch is one of the many variables which helped them confound 5,000/1 odds last time around but it abandoned them at the KCOM. Another effort was blazed over the bar by Vardy moments later.

It came back to haunt them on the brink of half-time, as Diomande pounced to put Hull into an unlikely lead. Schmeichel did brilliantly to keep out a looping header by Davies, from Snodgrass’s corner, but the Dane could do little about Diomande’s powerful over-head kick.

Ranieri trudged down the tunnel at the break with work to do. Referee Dean lent a helping hand, however, by awarding a contentious penalty soon after the restart. Demarai Gray howled in agony when Tom Huddlestone trampled on his ankle outside the area.

Television replays confirmed the foul was committed on the line but Dean, just five yards away, deemed it to be inside. Mahrez, who missed a penalty for Leicester at this ground in the League Cup last season, made no mistake this time, driving it down the middle to cancel the arrears.

The script suggested a Leicester renaissance was about to unfold. With a clutch of teenagers on the bench, no permanent manager and a hostile crowd, their hosts were there for the taking.

Ranieri cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines at times (Getty)

Instead, Ranieri’s men surrendered another. Schmeichel’s throw was short of Gray, its intended target, and invited Hull to press again. Danny Simpson hashed his clearance from Ahmed Elmohamady’s cross, allowing the ball to bobble into Snodgrass’s path 18 yards out.

The impressive Glaswegian thumped it into Leicester’s bottom left corner. Advantage to the Tigers again. Never before had reigning champions been defeated on the opening day of the following campaign.

The Chinese consortium who plan to buy Hull, some of whom had gone to the trouble of wearing official merchandise, were in the directors’ box watching on. “We are top of the league,” sung the home supporters as they filtered down the terraces at full-time. Despair became delirium in just 90 minutes.

Their lack of depth was exposed by the fact Phelan refused to make a single substitution. The uncomfortable questions of their credentials to survive remain. But there’s life in Hull yet.

Hull City (4-5-1): Jakupovic, Robertson, Davies, Elmohamady, Meyler, Huddlestone, Snodgrass, Clucas, Livermore, Diomande, Hernandez.

Subs not used: Kuciak, Maloney, Tymon, Bowen, Luer, Olley, Clackstone.

Leicester City (4-4-1-1): Schmeichel, Simpson (Ulloa 83’), Hernandez, Morgan, Fuchs, Mahrez, King (Amartey 68’), Drinkwater, Gray (Okazaki 68’), Musa, Vardy.

Subs not used: Zieler, Chilwell, Albrighton, Kapustka.

Referee: Mike Dean (Cheshire)

Rating: 6/10

Man of the match: Snodgrass

Attendance: 20,137