'Maybe people will stop sleeping on us' - Hull enjoy dream return

WHAT HAPPENED
Hull City stunned Manchester United 2-0 in their first Premier League match since 2017, with defenders Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy scoring in the first half. The victory was Hull’s first league win over United since 1974.

Manager Sergej Jakirovic, the first person from Bosnia-Herzegovina to manage in the Premier League, framed the result as a platform to build on; defender Ajayi also cautioned it was only one game while expressing hope the performance will change perceptions.

KEY CONTEXT
Hull reached the Premier League by winning the Championship play-offs after finishing sixth on the final day, overtaking Wrexham on goal difference. They beat Millwall in the semi-finals and then Middlesbrough 1-0 in the final; Middlesbrough’s own place in that match was confirmed only three days earlier after Southampton were expelled for spying and punished. Hull’s promotion followed a season in which they had the fifth-fewest shots and conceded the third-most in the division, and the club had narrowly avoided relegation from the Championship on goal difference in 2025. Five of the Hull starters against United were part of that near-relegation campaign. Mendy was one of 11 summer signings for the club, with the team indicating more arrivals were expected.

WHY IT MATTERS
The win overturns widespread expectations that the play-off promoted Tigers would struggle — many had predicted they would finish bottom — and hands Hull an immediate morale boost against a side tipped to challenge near the top. It also gives Jakirovic and a largely rebuilt squad tangible evidence that they can compete at this level, while inviting reassessment of pre-season assumptions about Hull’s prospects.

WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
- Whether Hull can sustain this form across the remaining 37 league fixtures Jakirovic referenced.
- Any further summer signings that the club indicated were still to come.
- If the result prompts a shift in outside expectations after pundits and former players publicly doubted Hull’s survival chances.

KEY FACTS
- Hull beat Manchester United 2-0; scorers were Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy.
- It was Hull’s first league win over United since 1974.
- Hull returned to the Premier League after winning the Championship play-offs, having finished sixth on the final day.
- Mendy was among 11 summer signings; the club said more signings were expected.
- Sergej Jakirovic is the first Bosnian-Herzegovinian to manage in the Premier League.
- Hull’s last top-flight game was a 7-1 home defeat by Tottenham in May 2017.