Premier League - City set record run of draws

Eurosport - Sat, 28 Nov 16:50:00 2009

Manchester City equalled a top-flight record of seven consecutive draws after Hull snatched a 1-1 result at Eastlands in the Premier League.

Hull City's Jimmy Bullard celebrates scoring the equaliser with his teammates - 0

Shaun Wright-Phillips scored the opening goal just before half-time, his 25-yard shot taking a slight deflection off the head of Anthony Gardner and beating Matt Duke at his near post.

However City were unable to close out the game and Hull were awarded a penalty with nine minutes left, Kolo Toure adjudged to have fouled Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

Jimmy Bullard struck the kick into the top of the net and Hull withstood a late spell of pressure to win a point.

City became the first side since Southampton in 1994-95 to draw seven Premier League matches on the trot after throwing away their lead.

They dominated the first 45 minutes and could have scored more, despite Hull's organised resistance: the pivotal Stephen Ireland had the first chance, flicking a Micah Richards cross just over the bar.

Duke then came out to block as Carlos Tevez cut in from the left following an incisive run and pass from Emmanuel Adebayor.

There was, however, an earlier scare for the home side when Richards failed to deal with a Richard Garcia cross at the far post and Stephen Hunt sent the ball back into the danger area; under little pressure Shay Given uncharacteristically lost it and Lescott hacked away.

That hesitation was generally more evident after the break; before it the diminutive attackers in sky blue dashed down both flanks with more abandon, forcing Phil Brown's players back. The best move involved Ireland flicking an Adebayor pass back for Robinho to volley through for the advancing Wright-Phillips, whose scissor kick could only find the side-netting.

Robinho was a little out of sorts on his return to action, with the best he could offer a pair of low shots wide of the far post either side of half-time.

Adebayor was often forced out wide in order to see the ball - and let himself down when he landed on Paul McShane with his studs after a fair sliding tackle from the defender. He was replaced in the second half by Roque Santa Cruz.

The home side's goal was impressive, despite the slight deflection: Tevez found Wright-Phillips 30 yards out and the England winger skinned Hunt before lashing at goal with Tevez tearing to the right demanding a return pass.

The effort was on target and Gardner's touch just diverted it past the unfortunate Duke.

Hull could have been level two minutes into the second period, Garcia's finish cleared off the line by Lescott after United States striker Jozy Altidore played him in.

Hull enjoyed more of the ball as City stood back, perhaps mindful of their run of draws. However Wright-Phillips should have won a penalty for the Citizens when, having beaten Andy Dawson on the right, Hunt grabbed his shorts near the byline: Lee Probert waved away his claim.

Craig Bellamy came in for Robinho but struggled to get on the end of any attacks both before and after Hull's equaliser, while Tigers playmaker Bullard was quiet overall but went close with a shot from 20 yards before putting away his spot-kick with aplomb.

The award was debatable: Lescott pulled his arm away to avoid handling Garcia's header into the box then behind him Vennegoor of Hesselink went to ground while tussling with Toure.

The Hull fans were entertained by Bullard's celebration (pictured), which made fun of manager Brown's on-pitch half-time team talk at Eastlands last season.

City threw the kitchen sink at the visitors but failed to connect with any of their crosses - and the boos at the final whistle signalled a growing frustration with boss Mark Hughes and his inability to mount a threat to the top clubs in the Premier League.

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport

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  1. citys players should run out to dire straits money for­ nothing playing over the stadium p.a.....sparky must­ wish he hadn,t signed such a souless bunch of­ mercenarys.

    From MICHAEL, on Tue 1 Dec 3:01PM

  2. Fair enough TrebOr!!

    From M, on Mon 30 Nov 3:11PM

  3. ha ha lmao at some of the comments on here man­ s.h.i.t.t.y bunch of overpaid and under-ambitious money­ grabbing mercenaries with big bank balances ha ha cant­ wait to see tevezs face at the end of the season when­ there are no cups and medals only failure and no cl­ football that he was promised ha ha keep it up hughesy­ your doing a great job ha ha ha ha

    From daz, on Sun 29 Nov 3:40PM

  4. Dear M. I have had a City season ticket for twenty­ years, but I'm starting to think the few pounds­ they ask for is too much to pay. My grandad tells me­ ther was a time when we won a cup, the league cup, he­ tells me all about the great day out he had back in the­ day. Wearing his flared trousers, it cost him a pounnd­ to travel to old London town for a grand day out with­ the other city fan. How he rattled his rattle when­ Mike Summerbe and the rest of the boys ran onto the­ pitch with their permed hair dos. How he sang along at­ half time to The Bay City Rollers. Ah those were the­ days. But now back to the present, I asked my dad if­ he can remember us winning anything bigger than a­ corner, but as he's only 33 he can't, poor­ chap, all his life living in the shadow of the mighty­ Old Trafford and living in fear of the football results­ on Saturday night. All that time watching Manchester­ United crowned champions of England, europe and the­ world time and time and time again. Yes I am a blue­ but I must sign off now as the nurse is coming with my­ medication. I will write again, but it will be in­ crayon as I'm not allowed sharp objects.

    From treb0r, on Sun 29 Nov 2:47PM

  5. Sack Hughes..........
    7 consecutive draw is nothing to­ be proud of... it's a big failure.....
    and Hughes­ will not even bring 7 consecutive win this season or­ even in his lifetime cause he is a just a moron....­
    top teams only loss or draw once in a blue moon.....

    From Issac, on Sun 29 Nov 2:47PM

  6. only 1 defeat so far this season and that was­ debatable, not a bad start to the season from where im­ standind as a citeh fan, ok i do believe we have drawn­ 3 games that we should have won but the others are an­ improvment on last season so why dont all the jealous­ fans slagging city off go and find interest in their­ own teams or is it because they are not interesting­ enough.

    chelsea or arsenal to win league
    man utd or­ spurs to finish 3rd and 4th
    aston villa and my beloved­ citeh to finish 5th or 6th

    From bryanshaw68, on Sun 29 Nov 1:22PM

  7. YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP­ REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.

    From Mike, on Sun 29 Nov 1:20PM

  8. remember the stretford singing Fergie out ,nearly­ happened too if the Gobshites had backed knighton Like­ the rest of stretford cheering him on when he rolled­ the ball into the net at trafford, oh what could have­ been . any way the point is patience and it WILL come

    From Mike, on Sun 29 Nov 1:09PM

  9. I said at the beginning of the season the egomaniac and­ unloyal mercenary spirit among these though talented­ individuals would end failure just look at lescot­ richards they get worse by the week , I think finishing­ 12th will be an achievement for citeh .

    From Glenn T, on Sun 29 Nov 10:05AM

  10. goff 112.--- Given,­ Bellamy, Wright Philipps, Petrov­ and dump the rest

    hahahahahaha They are the worst of­ the bunch you numpty.

    Barry-- England 1st team
    Robinho­ - Brazil 1st team
    Dejong -- Dutch 1st team
    shall i­ carry on?
    Elano -- dumped by Hughes - Brazil 1st­ team

    These are not average players, they are top draw,­ world class. Seriously, many city fans need to get­ their heads on straight. If you want mid table nonsense­ for years carry on blaming all the top players
    If you­ want to win the premier league before they hack it to­ death
    bring in a winning manager --­ Mancini.

    No-hopers are a thing of the past. The­ manager needs to have a history of winning cups and­ leagues.
    MANCINI is the one

    From paul g, on Sun 29 Nov 9:23AM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    everyone is laughing at man city they are a second­ class team and a joke. !!!!

    From M S, on Sun 29 Nov 9:01AM

  12. Anyone remember Alan Ball as our manager. I think him­ and Hughes are brothers! Ball always use to say. We are­ not 21st, we are really joint second. Liverpool are top­ and the rest of us are closely behind. What a load of­ B(**&llocks.
    You have to ask yourself, Are the back­ room boys really any better than Peter Swailes? A top­ manager should have been picked from the start, we all­ knew Hughes was a no hoper when he was elected, are the­ fans the only ones who can see straight.
    Keep Given,­ Bellamy, Wright Philipps, Petrov and dump the rest

    From goff, on Sun 29 Nov 8:00AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Remember all the comments they made in early stage of­ the league, its really funny and show what character­ man city players and manager are, one of it 'Other­ teams are jealous at what they have". They think­ they are so big and came in the egos'­ haha.

    Berbatov made a wise decision in rejecting man­ city offer but not Barry in rejecting Liverpool for man­ city and toure instead of staying at arsenal.

    From Sunkis, on Sun 29 Nov 7:45AM

  14. Man City has very good players and can buy more good­ players, but they can never never be the best with a­ Manager like Mark with them. mark is a lower class­ manager n does not fit in top class team as it stand­ now. he does not the character of top class manager.­ sorry that is the fact.

    From YUSOF, on Sun 29 Nov 7:04AM

  15. It is quite mystifying. Maybe Hughes is a good manager­ but at the wrong club. Maybe ManCity is a good team but­ with the wrong manager. Realistically speaking they­ have to sort it out. Having spent so much they have­ very little to show for it. To say they need time to­ gel as a team is rather ludicruous. They are all­ professionals who have been playing in the first­ elevens in major football leagues and should be able to­ adapt quickly. Maybe what they need, just like us­ ordinary workers, is a performance related pay scheme.­ That should perk them up.

    From cokrowinoto, on Sun 29 Nov 6:02AM

  16. city just need better manager. go buy a new one....

    From Ikhwan, on Sun 29 Nov 5:32AM

  17. Manchester city is a mediocre team. You cant trust­ tevez to win anything on his own. All running and­ complaining without goals is the order of the day. The­ egos in the squad is not well tamed.

    From Majoser, on Sun 29 Nov 4:10AM

  18. I am just a football fan living in the far east, last­ night I was tempted to watch the City v Hull game,­ TERRIBLE STUFF, goodness it was appalling.
    Poor quality­ from both sides, having said that the enthusiasm shown­ by Hull was far greater than the so called super stars­ of City.
    Top 4 finish for city, if that happens the EPL­ has gone down in its standards.

    From Alan, on Sun 29 Nov 2:37AM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Oh it was you the real DAZMANUTD who said ManCity is a­ big team the last few days. At the ManUnited blog no­ less. Well tell you what ManCity is really a big big­ team - a big joke team that is. And some nice things­ you say about SAF too. Well here's giving it all­ back to you. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. At least­ ManCity now equals the record of seven consecutive­ draws. No other teams enjoy that feat. ManCity should­ break the record in their next game. At least you can­ say ManCity is consistent. Maybe if you spend another­ £400m you can get a few more points after all as you­ say you've got all the money. But how much did Hull­ cost exactly. You know - Hull the team which took off­ two points from you. Hahahahahaha.

    From cokrowinoto, on Sun 29 Nov 2:01AM

  20. See what happens this week, City FCNK play Arsenal in­ the reserve team cup. the League Cup. City will field a­ full side against Arsenal's reserve and no matter­ whay happens City FCNK will again be a laughing stock.

    From GERRY, on Sun 29 Nov 1:44AM
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