Tottenham 2-0 Hull City: Tigers on the verge after clinical Spurs defeat

Hull City are on the verge of relegation from the Premier League after a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

Tottenham opened the scoring arguably against the run of play after a Spurs counter attack saw Nacer Chadli round Hull ‘keeper Steve Harper and give Mauricio Pochettino’s side the lead. The visitors were punished not for taking their earlier chances as Danny Rose doubled their lead with a well taken right footed shot into the corner after a nice passage of play with Ryan Mason.

Spurs made only one change with Danny Rose, sporting a rather vivid hairdo, coming in for the suspended Vlad Chiriches while Hull brought in Nikica Jelavic and David Meyler in for Sone Aluko and the suspended Jake Livermore.

The game began with neither side really pushing, Ahmed Elmohamady was the most lively player during the first-half which saw Hull take most of the early possession. The visitors were looking more threatening but Spurs grew into the game. Harry Kane saw his first chance on eight minutes blocked for a corner.

It was then Jelavic’s turn to threaten the goal, with two chances in as many minutes. A good counter attack by Hull ended with Jelavic nodding his effort just over the bar. Next came a great cross from Elmohamady with Jelavic hitting the woodwork after the cross evaded the entire Tottenham defence.

The game then calmed down, with both sides content to have a battle in the middle of the park. Spurs almost broke the deadlock as the game approached the half-hour mark. Kane put the ball across the six yard box, it’d have been easier for the in-form Englishman to take a shot but with the angle he chose to cross, with it coming to nothing.

Neither side really wanted to threaten and the game died down as half time approached. Many half-chances were made but neither side could find the all important breakthrough in the first half. It was evident these were two sides low on both form and confidence. Elmohamady impressed as he continued to slip past Rose but the visitors were kept out in the first period.

Hull began the second half as they’d played throughout most of the first, the visitors were attacking the Spurs goal with them almost going ahead. Spurs caught napping from a free-kick almost saw Jelavic score, but the Croatian was offside. However this was the least of their worries as Spurs went on to score on the counter attack.

Erik Lamela threaded a lovely ball behind the defence and Nacer Chadli managed to round Hull ‘keeper Steve Harper and break the deadlock. Hull had been the better side in the opening proceedings of the second half and the goal really hit them. Spurs grew into the game with the goal sparking them into life.

The Tigers were really punished for not taking their earlier chances as Danny Rose, who arguably shouldn’t have been on the pitch, plays a nice one two with Ryan Mason before slotting the ball home to make it two to the hosts.

With relegation looming, Hull fell away, Spurs started to dominate proceedings as the visitors had no response to the two goals. The game then died down yet again as Spurs were happy to simply play the game out while Hull had no invention in front of goal, absolutely nothing.

With 70 minutes on the clock, the visitors somehow managed not to score despite four chances in ten seconds. Substitute Abel Hernández had two chances blocked while Dame N’Doye fired his shot wide. Manager Steve Bruce had his head in his hands and with good reason as his side continued to look toothless in front of goal.

Neither side looked like adding to the goal tally as Hull are staring down the barrel of the relegation gun with both Aston Villa and Leicester City safe from the dreaded drop after results went their way elsewhere this afternoon.