Frank Lampard Reveals Coventry Exploited Hull City’s Second-Half Slump in Tactical Masterstroke
Coventry City boss Frank Lampard has acknowledged that his side capitalised on a known Hull City vulnerability, as the Sky Blues became the latest team to punish the Tigers’ recurring second-half frailties.
Hull conceded yet again shortly after the restart, with Matt Grimes’ volley—deflected off Charlie Hughes—finding the back of the net just one minute into the second half. It marked the third time in four matches since the international break that Ruben Selles’ men have shipped a goal within 10 minutes of the second period starting.
Luton Town and Watford both recently took similar advantage—Luton scoring seconds into the half via an unfortunate deflection, and Moussa Sissoko netting early for Watford in midweek. Alarmingly, Hull have now conceded 10 of their 50 league goals this season in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, highlighting a troubling pattern Selles is eager to correct.
While Lampard said it wasn’t a central focus of their game plan, he admitted his analysts had flagged Hull’s post-halftime slump ahead of the clash.
“We were definitely aware of it,” Lampard told Hull Live. “It wasn’t a key tactical emphasis, but it was on our radar. You can’t always predict when goals will come, but we knew there was an opportunity there based on what we’d seen in recent games.”
Despite being slightly frustrated with only taking a point from the MKM Stadium, Lampard was quick to credit Hull’s efforts and especially their goalkeeper, Ivor Pandur, who pulled off several key stops to earn Man of the Match honors.
“Hull are battling hard, and their keeper had a really strong performance,” Lampard said. “We respected that and did what we could, but he definitely played his part in keeping them in it.”