Hull battle to claim entertaining draw against unbeaten Everton

Hull’s return to the Premier League has gone swimmingly so far, but the visit of an Everton side firmly established at this level represented a tricky-looking test.

It was the Toffees who started the brighter too, forcing Konstantinos Tzolakis into early action when he needed to tip James Garner’s dipping free-kick over the bar.

Hull’s game was largely built on the counter-attack, and it was an avenue which nearly yielded an opener against the run of play when the returning Joe Gelhardt - a born and bred scouser - burst down the right and fired an effort straight at Jordan Pickford in the Everton goal. 

Sitting in to soak up pressure always looked to be a risky strategy for the Tigers, whose conservative approach appeared to have been punished shortly after the half-hour mark.

After a high, hanging ball into the area caused chaos, Tzolakis’ fumble was punished by Brennan Johnson who deflected an attempted clearance into an empty net, but he was adjudged to be offside before he reacted quickest to Harrison Armstrong’s initial blocked effort.

That seemed to galvanise Hull somewhat and they ended the half strongly, creating two great chances to take the lead when Gelhardt’s goal bound effort was blocked by James Tarkowski before Nobel Mendy incredibly headed over from almost underneath the crossbar.

The hosts kept up their pressure after the break, and it eventually paid dividends within five minutes of the restart. Sorba Thomas was the architect, driving through the centre of the pitch and threading the ball in behind for Gelhardt to dink the ball over the onrushing Pickford.

However, falling behind seemed to be exactly what the Toffees needed to spark back into life, as they hit back just six minutes later when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall ghosted in around the back to head home Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ pinpoint delivery.

The comeback was complete midway through the second half - albeit with a huge helping hand from Thomas - whose loose pass was pounced upon by Dewsbury-Hall and his ricocheted pass in behind freed Thierno Barry, allowing him to fire Everton ahead. 

A topsy-turvy game soon saw the Toffees relinquish their advantage, as Elliot Stroud took advantage of some weak Everton defending to cut the ball back for Mohamed Belloumi to fire a fierce effort that Pickford could only parry into the corner.

That proved to be the final meaningful action in an entertaining clash, although Hull would almost certainly have swapped entertainment for points given their winless league run now stands at four matches.

It was another underwhelming afternoon on the road for Everton too, who’ve now won just two of their last 16 top-flight away games against promoted opposition. 

Flashscore Man of the Match: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Everton)

Check out the match summary with Flashscore.