Hull City 0-0 Watford: FLW report as Tigers held to goalless draw by improved Hornets | OneFootball

FLW report from the MKM Stadium for this Championship fixture

Hull City were held to a frustrating goalless draw by managerless Watford on a cold night at the MKM Stadium.

After winning four matches on the spin, Sergej Jakirovic's side were largely second best against the Hornets, who were under the interim management of Dan Gosling, Charlie Daniels and Adrian Marriapa following Javi Gracia's exit on Sunday afternoon.

The Tigers do remain third, though, as Ipswich Town saw their rearranged fixture with Portsmouth at Fratton Park postponed for a second time.

Hull City 0-0 Watford

After a quiet opening to the game, the Tigers saw appeals for a penalty after seven minutes dismissed as Yu Hirakawa fell under pressure from Jeremy Ngakia.

The first clear-cut chance came soon after as a well-worked short corner between Amir Hadziahmetovic and the Japanese winger ended up at Joe Gelhardt's feet, although the City forward sent the ball over the crossbar from close range.

Watford then forced their own initial opening midway through the half as Othmane Maamma was able to advance down the right flank, with the ball eventually falling to the influential Imran Louza, who fired a warning sign just inches wide of Ivor Pandur's left-hand post.

Giorgi Chakvetadze then brought the best out of Pandur as he saw a curling strike tipped behind by the Croatian, before Edo Kayembe's free header from the resulting corner was also inches wide.

In a half extremely low on final-third quality, the visitors forged another gilt-edged chance two minutes from the interval as Hull allowed Stephen Mfuni the chance to power another free header just wide of the target, before Egil Selvik was finally called into action in the final seconds of the first period to thwart Charlie Hughes with a fine save.

Watford looked to continue their previous dominant spell in the opening minute of the second period, with Louza eventually seeing his second attempt of the night charged down by Hirakawa after a neat passing exchange down the City right.

Selvik was then forced into a tremendous save after a smart dummy from Kieran Dowell saw Regan Slater line up another powerful effort from 20 yards out, although the Tigers midfielder couldn't record his third of the season on this particular occasion.

Louza then came close three times for the visitors in the first part of the second half. The Moroccan's curling strike under pressure from Slater fell narrowly wide on 57 minutes. Hughes stood firm against his powerful close-range effort nine minutes later, before he somehow squirmed a golden opportunity after being found in the centre of the box by substitute, Jeremy Petris.

Oli McBurnie endured a frustrating night as the Tigers' lone striker, and his first effort proved that with a tame header 13 minutes from time.

With the encounter drifting into the final minutes, Edo Kayembe drifted away from the challenges of John Lundstram and John Egan before firing way wide, with the home crowd continuing to grow frustrated as their side continued to be second best.

A last-gasp corner for Hull also failed to yield a dramatic winner as Hughes' header was easily grasped by Selvik. The Tigers are now four points behind the automatic promotion places on a tally of 54, whilst Watford have climbed to eight on goal difference on 44 points.

FT: Hull City 0-0 Watford

Player Ratings

Hull City

Ivor Pandur - 7

Lewie Coyle - 6.5

John Egan - 6.5

Charlie Hughes - 7.5

Matty Jacob - 7 (Millar 74" - 6)

Amir Hadziahmetovic - 6 (Lundstram 61" - 6.5)

Regan Slater - 7.5

Joe Gelhardt - 6.5 (Giles 74" - 6)

Kieran Dowell - 6 (Koumas 61" - 6.5)

Yu Hirakawa - 6 (Joseph 82" - 6)

Oli McBurnie - 6

Unused Subs: D.Phillips, C.McCarthy, P.McNair, A.Famewo

Watford

Egil Selvik - 7.5

Jeremy Ngakia - 6.5 (Petris 66" - 6.5)

James Abankwah - 7.5

Stephen Mfuni - 7 (Keben 66" - 6.5)

Marc Bola - 8

Nampalys Mendy - 7.5

Imran Louza - 6.5

Othmane Maamma - 7.5 (Ince 95" - N/A)

Edo Kayembe - 7.5

Giorgi Chakvetadze - 7.5 (Baah 75" - 6)

Mamadou Doumbia - 6 (Kjerrumgaard 75" - 6)

Speaking post-match, Jakirovic's initial thoughts of City's performance were: "This is a perfect point for us.

"When you watch everything back, Watford were better today," the Bosnian claimed. "On the ball, without the ball, they were very dangerous.

"We knew that, because they are a team with a lot of potential, power and speed. They can make a difference in every part of the pitch.

"In the first half, we dropped too much and struggled to create any good possession and counter-attacks," he added.

"They missed some good chances, and I cannot complain with this point.

"Every point is important in this league, and today we are very satisfied with one point."

Charlie Daniels reacts as Watford FC hold Hull City at MKM Stadium

Speaking post-match, Daniels was impressed by his side's overall performance: "For me, it was a really good performance.

"I thought the lads understood what we asked from them. Tactically, the energy they played with, the quality they showed and possess, I thought it came through tonight.

"For me, the only thing missing from that performance was a goal," he added. "You could go through the whole team, I thought everyone was outstanding.

"They're all disappointed they didn't get the win. But, in terms of the performance, we're really happy.

"From one training session, it's been really pleasing. They've taken on board what we asked of them, and they've implemented it.

"I think that showed in our performance today," said Daniels.

Attendance

The attendance at the MKM Stadium tonight was 20,441.