Report: Hull City 0-4 Leeds United
Whites hammer the Tigers.
Sky Bet Championship
Hull City 0
Leeds United 4 (Ayling 5, Hernandez 47, Roberts 81, 84)
Hull: Long, Stewart, McKenzie, Pennington, McLoughlin, Honeyman, Lopes (Batty 63), Samuelsen (Maddison 76), Elder, Wilks, Magennis (Balogh 63). Subs: Ingram, Tafazolli, Kingsley, Irvine.
Leeds: Meslier, Ayling, White, Cooper, Dallas, Phillips, Klich, Hernandez, Harrison, Costa, Bamford. Subs: Caprile, Douglas, Alioski, Roberts, Berardi, Shackleton, Stevens.
Booked: McLoughlin, Magennis (Hull), Bamford (Leeds)
Referee: K. Stroud
Venue: KCOM Stadium
Attendance: 16,178
Leeds United recorded a fourth Sky Bet Championship win in a row with a 4-0 hammering of Hull City at the KCOM Stadium.
Head coach Marcelo Bielsa made two changes from the side which beat Middlesbrough in midweek, with the injured Kalvin Phillips returning to the starting line-up and Illan Meslier replacing Kiko Casilla.
Leeds made the perfect start to the match taking the lead inside five minutes. Pablo Hernandez played a fine cross field pass finding Luke Ayling in space and his deflected long range strike left Hull goalkeeper George Long helpless, finding the back of the net.
The Whites almost doubled the advantage less than three minutes later. Hernandez struck from just inside the Hull penalty area and he saw his strike bounce out off the underside of the crossbar.
Meslier making his first league start for the Whites was called into action in the 23rd minute making a good stop from Kevin Stewart’s deflected strike.
Leeds dominated possession throughout the first period without creating any clear cut chances. Jack Harrison and Helder Costa whipped in some dangerous crosses, but no Whites players could get on the end to convert.
With four minutes of the first half remaining, Stewart tried his luck from 20 yards, but was unable to find the target with his strike as the Whites went in ahead at the break.
Half time: Hull City 0-1 Leeds United
Hull almost equalised two minutes into the second half. Shaun McLoughlin had a free header at a Tigers corner, but couldn’t get the better of Meslier.
Less than a minute after Hull’s chance, Leeds doubled the advantage. A Harrison cross fell to Costa and he played the ball into the path of Hernandez who slotted home past Long.
The home side then had Long to thank for keeping Leeds at bay. Costa did well to work room for a shot in the Hull box before striking at goal, whilst Mateusz Klich was denied from 25 yards.
At the other end Meslier was forced to tip the ball over the crossbar following a long Hull throw into the Leeds box, before the Whites stopped denied a Stewart cross heading towards goal.
Leeds continued to dominate the second half though, Costa struck just wide from the edge of the box, before Patrick Bamford saw a shot deflect wide following a Phillips free kick.
Hull’s substitutes Daniel Batty and Norbert Balogh combined in the 68th minute with the latter hitting the post following some neat control.
Two minutes later Leeds hit the woodwork for the second time in the game. Following a corner, Harrison picked up the ball and weaved his way through the Hull defenders before unleashing a fine effort from the edge of the box which was denied by the post.
Costa was again denied by the impressive Long when he hit a half volley at goal, before Leeds added a third goal in the 81st minute. Tyler Roberts superbly finished off a lovely Leeds attack, after being set up by Klich.
Three minutes later, Roberts found the net once again, this time meeting a Klich cross with a fine diving header, to send the travelling Leeds support delirious and cap off a fine performance on the east coast.
Full time: Hull City 0-4 Leeds United
