Manchester United fell in a shocking 2-0 loss to newly promoted Hull City in their first match of the 2026-27 Premier League.
It took just 17 minutes for United to fall behind when Semi Ajayi smashed home from a corner. Nobel Mendy doubled Hull’s surprise advantage after 38 minutes with a powerful header.
On both occasions, United were beaten by set pieces swung into their box. United toiled in the second half but never looked like rescuing anything from a dreadful opening match.
Read more:Cristiano Ronaldo reveals retirement plans: ‘Probably my last year’
They had been buoyed before the match by the unveiling of Marcus Rashford‘s new squad number — he will wear the No. 9 shirt this season after returning from a loan at Barcelona — although he was named on the bench and came on as a halftime substitute.
Even Rashford was unable to turn around the two-goal deficit to save Michael Carrick‘s first league game as United’s permanent coach.
He struggled to impress along with many other players in a lackluster team display that showed United — who were last Premier League champions in 2013 under Sir Alex Ferguson — still have far to go to recapture former glories and are unlikely to challenge for the title, at least on this evidence anyway.
Read more:Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney reaffirm Wrexham’s Premier League target
Sergej Jakirovic’s Hull finished sixth in last season’s second flight but, amid the Spygate drama that cost Southampton their place in the playoffs, they swiftly took advantage with a win at Wembley Stadium and earned promotion to the Premier League. Critics had predicted that Hull might find life difficult in English football’s top division, but their first game of the campaign, at the KC Stadium, could hardly have gone any better.
“It’s massive — you can see what it means to everyone,” Hull’s Regan Slater, whose free kick set up the second goal, told TNT Sports. “We picked up where we left off.”
For Carrick and United, it is back to the drawing board before next weekend when they host Ipswich Town — another newly promoted side — at Old Trafford.
Read more:Michael Carrick on Man United’s defeat to Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan: ‘No excuses’
“We have a bit to improve on – it was never going to be perfect,” Carrick said.
“One game doesn’t change the direction of everything,” he added. “It doesn’t change the direction of the football club.”
