GEOVANNI edged the battle of the Brazilians as he salvaged Hull an entertaining draw against former club Manchester City at the KC Stadium.
Robinho, drafted in by the Eastlands side for £32.5million after his compatriot's release on a free transfer, was lively but overshadowed by team-mate Stephen Ireland who grabbed both the Manchester club's goals.
Two horrendous defensive gaffes,
from Tal Ben-Haim and Kamil Zayatte, made it 1-1 before a sublime second from Ireland and Geovanni's deflected free-kick cancelled each other out.
A George Boateng foul after just two minutes gave Robinho a chance to try his luck from range, but his free-kick squirmed tamely wide. Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill showed good awareness when leaving his area to clear a dangerous through ball. After 10 minutes, Hull created a fine chance which was spurned by captain Ian Ashbee.
The home side were ahead four minutes later, though, with Ben-Haim to blame for a defensive howler. Micah Richards rolled the ball to his defensive partner and, with only Cousin in attendance and minimal pressure on, the Israeli inexplicably played the former Rangers striker in six yards from goal. The Frenchman slotted home with ease, while goalkeeper Joe Hart was left injured on the turf. He limped off minutes later, all but ensuring his withdrawal from the England squad, with City's Kasper Schmeichel his replacement.
Geovanni, quiet in the opening exchanges, tried some crowd-pleasing footwork on the left wing after 23 minutes but was bundled, strongly but fairly, into touch by Pablo Zabaleta. Shaun-Wright Phillips and Robinho began to link behind the away side's front two to lend the encounter a little more finesse, but the Tigers remained staunch in defence. And it was Hull, on the counter, who created the next opportunity, Cousin glancing wide from a Sam Ricketts cross. After 37 minutes, Zayatte produced the second horrific defensive error of the match. Robinho's through ball missed every blue shirt and was collected with ease by Zayatte who played the ball back across his own goal and into the path of Ireland, who tapped into an open net.
The midfielder had his second before the half was out, taking Garrido's square ball on his instep before curling his shot expertly beyond Myhill.
It took just two minutes of the second period for Geovanni to get the home supporters on their feet, firing over with a thrilling bicycle kick after latching on to King's drifted cross. The match settled into a pattern, with Hull lofting the ball high towards their opponents' box and the Eastlands side content to clear back into the home side's half. Geovanni, typically, was the man to change things. With an hour gone, he lined up a free-kick 25 yards out directly in front of the posts. His shot took a heavy deflection off Vincent Kompany in the wall, leaving Schmeichel floundering and earning him a sixth Premier League goal of the season.
Hull City: Myhill, McShane, Turner, Zayatte, Ricketts, Boateng (Halmosi 85), Ashbee, Marney, Geovanni, Cousin (Barmby 76), King. Subs not used: Duke, Doyle, Garcia, Folan, Giannakopoulos. Booked: McShane, Marney.
Manchester City: Hart (Schmeichel 19), Zabaleta, Richards, Ben-Haim, Garrido, Wright-Phillips, Kompany, Ireland, Mwaruwari (Jo 76), Robinho, Vassell. Subs not used: Onuoha, Michael Ball, Hamann, Elano, Evans. Booked: Ben-Haim, Wright-Phillips, Ireland.
