Previously unbeaten Hull were given a Premier League reality check with a 5-0 home mauling by Wigan.
Bruce's men too strong for Hull
Previously unbeaten Hull were given a Premier League reality check with a 5-0 home mauling by Wigan.
The rout at the KC Stadium started when Sam Ricketts helped a Kevin Kilbane corner into his own goal on five minutes when under no pressure at the near post.
Antonio Valencia then added a second with a superb break-away goal following a Hull corner. The corner was headed out to Amr Zaki who helped it onto Valencia, who ran from his own half before coolly slotting the ball under keeper Boaz Myhill's legs.
Hull then started the second-half brightly but fell further behind with a great strike from Zaki in the 63rd minute.
Emile Heskey added a fourth in the 68th minute following a mistake by Wayne Brown, before Zaki added his second on 81 minutes with a thumping shot which went in from the underside of the bar.
Hull started at an upbeat pace amid an electric atmosphere at the KC Stadium.
Their grit and determination was mixed with a genuine attempt to play fluent football and that almost created the opening goal after just two minutes but Craig Fagan fired wide following good work from Geovanni.
Bizarre
Yet it was Wigan who took the lead in bizarre circumstances just minutes later.
Kilbane failed to get any height on his mis-hit corner and, in attempting to clear the danger at the near post, Tigers defender Ricketts slid and deflected the ball over a helpless Boaz Myhill and into an empty net.
The home fans were left stunned after 13 minutes as the Latics then doubled their advantage straight from a Hull corner.
Emmerson Boyce, who had almost put into his own net by giving away the set-piece, headed clear to Zaki and he flicked the ball on to Valencia near the halfway line.
The tricky forward man left a gaping Hull defence for dead before sprinting clean through to slot coolly under Myhill and hand Bruce a dream start.
Hull composed themselves as the half wore on and neat interplay in midfield set up both Geovanni and Folan but they failed to really test Kirkland.
Hull had previously come from behind in both of their opening two games of the season, and they started the second half determined to gain something from this encounter.
Michael Turner headed narrowly over just 60 seconds after the restart before Richard Garcia should have pulled one back, forcing a great parried stop from Kirkland from a promising position inside the area.
Dean Windass was handed his 100th Premier League appearance after 55 minutes, but it was not long before the wind was well and truly taken from Hull's sails as Zaki netted Wigan's third.
A long cross-field ball found its way to Valencia by the touchline and he squared a ball past a static Tigers defence, who failed to react as the Egyptian took a touch and fired home his second Premier League goal of the campaign to date.
Rout
The victory started to become more like a rout just five minutes later as Heskey capitalised on a disastrously short backward header from Brown to round Myhill and fire into the net.
Turner again headed over from close range when he really should have at least hit the target.
But Hull's efforts in attack were proving fruitless as Bruce's Wigan grabbed a fifth in the 81st minute through the impressive Zaki. The striker picked the ball up on the edge of the area before smashing his thunderous effort off the crossbar and down over the line.
| Hull City |
Team Statistics |
Wigan Athletic |
| 0 |
Goals |
5 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
2 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 7 |
Corners |
4 |
| 20 |
Fouls |
13 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 74.9 |
Passing Success |
75 |
| 22 |
Tackles |
22 |
| 77.3 |
Tackles Success |
68.2 |
| 55.7 |
Possession |
44.3 |
| 49.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
50.4 |
|
