Soccer-Hull in dreamland on Premier League return

Sat, August 22, 2026 at 2:13 PM UTC

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HULL, England, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Hull City captain Lewie Coyle was still pinching himself after the promoted side marked their return to the Premier League with a shock 2-0 victory over Manchester United on Saturday.

Goals from Semi Ajayi and record signing Nobel Mendy gave Sergej Jakirovic's side a famous win following a nine-year absence from the top flight.

"Probably before we all went to bed last night, we couldn't have dreamt any better," Coyle told TNT Sports.

"But to say I'm surprised, obviously, to win 2-0 at home against Manchester United, it'll be a shock to a lot of people.

"I'm not saying that's exactly how I thought it would go, but this team's got something special in terms of character, resilience, and we know what we're doing."

The result made unwanted history for United, who lost on the opening day of a league season to a newly-promoted side for the first time.

The opening goal sparked confusion among Hull's players, with Semi Ajayi eventually credited for the strike despite teammate Ollie McBurnie's enthusiastic celebration.

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"I'm not going to lie. I thought he scored it as well," Ajayi said.

"I didn't really care if any one of us scored as long as we got the goal. I was lucky that there was no VAR check or nothing. So I was buzzing that it was ultimately my goal."

Hull's defensive masterclass included a clean sheet and goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis made five saves.

"We know what we're doing when we're in that low block and we have to defend," Coyle explained.

Ajayi insisted his team has drowned out the outside noise while a proud Coyle made Hull's ambitions clear.

"I said to them in the huddle before, we're not just here to make the numbers up," he said.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing byh Ed Osmond)

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Source: “AOL Sports”