Play-off chasing Hull’s poor home form again cost them as second-half goals from Josh Laurent and Ki-Jana Hoever earned relegation-battling Stoke a 2-0 win at the MKM Stadium.
Hull went into the game with seven wins out of 19 at home this season and were on a run of just one win in their last 10 Championship matches at the MKM.
Defeat dropped Hull two places to ninth in the table as the Potters moved five points clear of the drop zone.
Stoke did not start like at team at the wrong end of the table, forcing a corner after a minute, and from their next five minutes later Michael Rose could only steer a low delivery from Sead Haksabanovic wide of goal.
Hull tried to respond but a volley from Anass Zaroury was well off target following a long kick by Ryan Allsop.
Sean McLoughlin headed wide as Hull forced two corners in quick succession and then the defender, in for suspended skipper Jacob Greaves, headed another chance over as the Tigers started to exert more pressure.
Regan Salter’s surging run was ended with a foul by Rose and Zaroury’s free-kick was scrambled clear for a corner just before the half-hour mark, but Alfie Jones headed the delivery well over as both sides struggled to carve out a clear opening.
Stoke captain Laurent was booked for his challenge on Fabio Carvalho and was then warned by referee Graham Scott he risked another after arguing about the caution.
Stoke’s Mehdi Leris headed a free-kick tamely at Allsop with 10 minutes of the half remaining in the only on-target effort of the first half.
Noah Ohio flicked on rather than shooting from a Carvalho low cross and Jones headed a free-kick wide.
At the other end Haksabanovic shot over as Hull struggled to clear from their own area in the final action of a poor first period.
The game desperately needed a spark at the start of the second half but both sides continued to struggle to find a cutting edge.
Ryan Giles again probed down the left as the hour approached but his cross was headed wide by Ohio.
Hull broke through substitute Abdulkadir Omur but when his pass found Jaden Philogene the forward’s shot failed to trouble Daniel Iversen when he had team-mates better placed.
Jordan Thompson shot high and wide after working an opening on the edge of the Hull area but shortly after the visitors went in front from a corner.
Ryan Mmaee headed towards the left post where an unmarked Laurent side-footed home from close range with 21 minutes to go.
Leris forced Allsop into a save to his left, but Omur and Philogene both went close to an equaliser before Hoever fired home Stoke’s second in stoppage time.
Reggae Boyz Magee, Williams help Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC mark 10th anniversary in USL Championship with maiden title
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, home of Reggae Boyz Tyreek Magee and Devon “Speedy” Williams, earned their first USL Championship league title with a 3-0 victory against Rhode Island FC in the final before a sellout crowd of 8,023 fans at Weidner Field on Saturday.
Williams played all 90 minutes while Magee came on as a second half substitute.
The Switchbacks opened the scoring in the 22nd minute through Juan Tejada, who claimed Championship Final MVP.
Three minutes before the halftime interval, sustained pressure from Colorado Springs was rewarded when Jairo Henriquez doubled their advantage.
In the 53rd minute the Switchbacks had their third through Haitian international Ronaldo Damus.
The victory capped the Switchbacks’ 10th anniversary season and maintained their perfect postseason record at home since the opening of Weidner Field in 2021.
As for Magee and Williams’ individual stats throughout the season, Magee scored three goals and provided one assist in 18 appearances while Williams recorded five assists in 36 appearances.
This win also makes Williams now a four-time USL Champion having won with New York Red Bulls II in 2015-16 as well as back to back titles with Louisville City FC in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
The 32-year-old Williams has been capped 35 times by the Reggae Boyz, most recently in a friendly against Guatemala last December while Magee, 25, has earned 13 caps for the Reggae Boyz, most recently against the USA in the Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinals last week.
De Bruyne describes 'chaotic' Man City scenes
Kevin De Bruyne conceded there has been some chaos behind the scenes at Manchester City, but refuted the suggestion there is a dark atmosphere.
City have lost their last five games in all competitions, while they are eight points back from leaders Liverpool in the Premier League.
Their dismal run of form continued with a shock 4-0 loss at home to Tottenham on Saturday.
De Bruyne, who has featured just six times in the Premier League this season and made just four starts, says there is not a bad mood in the camp, though.
"I wouldn't say dark, it's been a bit chaotic," said the Belgian ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash with Feyenoord.
"I've seen so many people pass around the medical area, sport science, whose playing and not playing. There's been so many people playing who shouldn't have been playing.
"The games against Sporting, Brighton and Bournemouth were all over the place. Tottenham was more normal.
"I didn't see too much change, everyone is down about the five losses. You have to move on."
City have already shipped 17 league goals this term, while they were beaten 4-1 by Sporting CP in their last European outing.
Since their losing run started with a 2-1 loss to Spurs in the EFL Cup on October 30, City have conceded 14 goals from 10.6 expected goals against (xGA).
"There's only so much you can control from the sides. It's not a nice feeling but it's fine," De Bryne added.
"It seems like we're not really dealing with the moments when it goes bad. There's moments like the Tottenham game which we do really well. The main issue is both boxes. We're conceding too many goals. I don't think we played a bad game the other day but we lost 4-0."
"If you give five chances against Tottenham, that's not that bad. They get two tap-ins. With the way we play, you have to accept there's more opportunity for teams to have a counter. At the moment, we're not dealing with this in a good way.
"We're always going to give a chance away. We're giving it away too many times. When we give a chance at goal, it's basically a goal."
De Bruyne is out of contract at the end of the season, though the 33-year-old is not overly concerned about his future.
"I honestly don't know. At the start of the season, I knew talks would happen but then the thing [injury] happened in Brentford. It was meant to be a couple of days and then it was eight, nine weeks. I put it all to the side," he added.
"I'm not too worried. I'm fine. I'm happy, I just want to play good football again and the future, we'll see.
"I only can really give you the answers, but I don't know. If there's no talks it will be my last year at the club, but I don't know.
"I had a conversation in the summer, but then I had the injury so I wasn't in the right frame of mind to talk about that. I need to be back on the pitch and be myself again. There's no rush, I don't feel uncomfortable, I'm not worried."
Real Madrid dealt Vinicius injury blow before Champions League clash at Liverpool
Vinicius Junior is set to miss his side's Champions League clash at Liverpool after sustaining a leg muscle injury, Real Madrid announced.
Reports suggest that Vinicius could be sidelined for at least three weeks, which means he could miss up to seven games in all competitions before the winter break, including against Girona and Athletic Bilbao in LaLiga and a Champions League visit to Atalanta.
The Brazilian played all 90 minutes against Leganes on Sunday, setting up Kylian Mbappe's opener in Madrid's 3-0 win.
In the Champions League, he is the second-highest scorer, having netted four times in four matches, while only Rico Lewis (13) has created more chances than him (12).
"Following tests carried out today on our player Vini Jr by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with an injury to the biceps femoris in his left leg. Pending evolution," Madrid said in a statement.
Vinicius is the latest to join the club's lengthy injury list, which includes key players like Rodrygo, Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Lucas Vazquez, Aurelien Tchouameni and David Alaba.
Madrid are second in the LaLiga standings on 30 points. However, after two losses in their last three games in the Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti's side could be in trouble with a bad result at Anfield. They are 18th in the 36-team table with six points from four games.
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