Hull City earned their first-ever Premier League victory over Manchester United after returning to the top flight with a 2-0 victory at MKM Stadium.
Playing their first match in the top flight since 2016/17, Hull settled straight back into the competition, with Semi Ajayi getting them off to a dream start when he took advantage of some slack Man Utd defending at a corner.
And it only got better for Sergej Jakirovic’s side before half-time when Nobel Mendy got around the back of the Red Devils’ defence to guide a free-kick past the helpless Senne Lammens in goal.
United attempted to mount a comeback without any luck against Hull’s solid defence, with Bryan Mbeumo having the best chance, only to fire it straight at ‘keeper Konstantinos Tzolakis.
How the match unfolded
Man Utd started brightly, with Mbeumo’s sweet volley forcing Tzolakis into a smart save before Matheus Cunha’s tame shot was gathered shortly after.
But Hull burst into life after that, with Oli McBurnie’s thumping header parried by the sprawling Lammens, who then had to tip Regan Slater’s dipping cross over the bar shortly after.
Man Utd were all over the place on the resulting corner, with Lammens making another stellar save to push McBurnie’s stretching shot on to the post, but Ajayi reacted quickest to fire the rebound into the empty net 17 minutes in.
Hull continued to prove a threat as the half went on, and a 38th-minute free-kick provided their next opening as Slater’s inswinging delivery was flicked into the net by Mendy.
The visitors dominated possession in the second half – which started with the return of Marcus Rashford off the bench – but they struggled to carve Hull open, and the Tigers did not sit back.
Mohamed Belloumi curled a lovely shot just over, while substitute Cody Drameh, who had been a doubt ahead of the match, almost added some late gloss to the scoreline, only to drill his low effort just wide.
Man Utd’s attempts to mount a comeback continued to fall short, but Cunha carved Hull’s back line open to find Mbeumo, who was again denied by a good Tzolakis save.
Hull remained resolute at the back to see out the win and clean sheet, joining champions Arsenal on three points after their first game.
