Hull City suffered a sixth defeat within their last seven league games as Xherdan Shaqiri put them to the sword with a fine display for Stoke City at the KCOM Stadium.

The Potters claimed a 2-0 win on Saturday afternoon thanks to Shaqiri's brace, keeping Hull in the relegation zone - but what went wrong for the home side?

Stoke wide players a class above the rest

Shaqiri has been inconsistent since his arrival in the Premier League a year and a half ago but he showed his undoubted talent with an established performance in Yorkshire.

The movement, passing range and dribbling ability of the Swiss international was evident as a shaky Hull defence could not deal with him.

The game will be remembered for a fantastic double by Shaqiri but he did more than just score two outstanding goals.

After constantly drifting away from an out-of-position Sam Clucas, the attacking midfielder was not afraid to take the game to the Hull defence with a match high five dribbles.

When taking the ball forward was not an option, he used his fantastic range of passing as he set through Marko Arnautovic on two occassions with outstanding diagonal balls.

Arnautovic has not had the same impact this term as he did last season but the Austrian was also in excellent form on the opposite flank to Shaqiri.

Like his colleague, Arnautovic showed up an out of position full-back, this time Ahmed Elmohamady, as he constantly peeled off the back of the Egyptian. His movement coupled with sublime touches gave the winger a handful of chances to score but his finishing let him down.

Questionable tactics by Phelan

Hull manager Mike Phelan lamented his side for giving the ball away too often, losing the ball on no less than 39 occassions.

The hosts played with no real balance to their tactics as the left side was often neglected when David Meyler, Robert Snodgrass and Ryan Mason all at times played wide right.

Question marks have to be raised over Hull's ability to score goals. Their first shot on target did not come until the 55th minute and Stoke goalkeeper Lee Grant was hardly tested.

Will Keane looks to have potential but the Premier League seems to be too big a step for the youngster, particularly playing as a lone striker.

Abel Hernandez enjoyed a fruitful season in the Championship last year, but continues to struggle in the top flight as he did two season ago.

Hull fans may also wonder where the influence of Tom Huddlestone has disappeared to.

Playing in defensive midfield, the experienced Englishman drifted out of position too often and did not have an impact for his side at the back, whilst also having no say on the temp of the game.

Whilst Stoke's engine room players Glenn Whelan and Geoff Cameron played 72 and 66 passes respectively, Huddlestone managed just 38, a low count for a deep-lying midfielder.

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