Hull City 2-1 Fulham
Kit Symons angrily declared ‘something needs to change and sharpish’ after another late goal condemned Fulham to defeat against Hull City.
A goal from Ahmed Elmohamady and a late winner from Sone Aluko either side of a Tom Cairney equaliser gave Hull victory at the KC Stadium.
The Cottagers once again produced a lacklustre first-half display and threw away a point in the closing moments of the game in a near mirror image of the defeat at Brighton last Saturday, leaving them with one point from their first three games.
Symons’ woes were further compounded by knee ligament injuries sustained by goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli and striker Matt Smith after the players collided with each other in the first half.
Hull had earlier hit the bar through Abel Hernandez and they were in complete control of the game when they took the lead thanks to Elmohamady’s header ten minutes before half time.
Fulham improved after the break and restored parity through yet another stunning Cairney equaliser as the former Hull man curled home his second in as many games.
But once again Fulham could not see the point out and four minutes from time Aluko fired passed replacement goalkeeper Andy Lonergan from inside the area.
“Three League games in I am sick of saying the same things at the end of games already,” said Symons.
“We battled well, created chances and we were in the ascendancy but we’ve come away with nothing to show for it.
“We show in our performances that we are more than good enough. But ultimately people don’t care about the performances. They care about points, and that’s what I want.”
The former Wales international, who stuck with the same team that lost at Brighton, was once again angered by his team’s lack of concentration and another slow start to a match.
“Fitness levels are good so it’s nothing to do with that,” he said.
“It can purely be concentration because we are outperforming teams fitness-wise in the second half, and quite often we’re performing at higher levels in second half than we were in the first half.
“We weren’t good first half again for the second game running. We’re starting too slow and giving ourselves a bit to do by conceding silly goals early on. But we get ourselves back into it.
“We massively stepped it up in the second period and we were playing good football. It makes it even more frustrating.
“We’re looking strong, looking fit, but we are conceding late goals, which is killing us at the moment. Something needs to change and change sharpish.”
The Whites find themselves just outside of the relegation zone on of goal difference and have only won twice in 11 home games in all competitions since January ahead of Saturday’s home game with Huddersfield Town.
The start has echoes of Felix Magath’s disastrous reign at Craven Cottage. The German went seven league games without a win last season before he was sacked and replaced by Symons in September.
Feature image courtesy of Fulham FC, via Youtube, with thanks
