Hull City forward Liam Millar (7) and Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury (17)
Leicester City’s attempted fightback fell short as a disastrous first half did the damage in their defeat at Hull.
Aaron Ramsey came off the bench to score a terrific goal but City could not find an equaliser, with Harry Winks cracking the crossbar in added time.
City were ultimately undone by a woeful first period in which Liam Millar, making his first start in a year, curled in the opener before Joe Gelhardt tapped in a second.
It means the eight-game unbeaten run is over for Marti Cifuentes’ side, who tumble down the table from fourth to eighth, with Hull one of the sides to overtake them.
Four changes were made by Cifuentes for the game, the manager bringing Hamza Choudhury, Boubakary Soumare, Jordan Ayew and Patson Daka into the fold.
City had led at half-time in their previous three matches but there was no chance of that at the MKM Stadium. They were all at sea defensively and lacked the quality in attack to break Hull down.
Even before Millar’s early goal, they were given a warning. Choudhury stood off Millar on the City right and the winger delivered a low cross that Kyle Joseph flicked goalwards, Jakub Stolarczyk turning the ball onto the post before grasping.
Barely a minute later, Hull took the lead. Luke Thomas’s interception bounced in Hull’s favour and left the left-back in no man’s land. That gave Gelhardt the space to cross, with Millar running onto the ball on the edge of the box, whipping a shot into the top corner.
In response, City created two good chances. Thomas’s cross found Ayew, but he fluffed his shot, spinning an effort wide. Then when an excellent move saw Choudhury set up Daka, the Zambian was denied a rare goal by Semi Ajayi’s heroic block.
Even amid those chances, Hull had continued to threaten, and they scored a second on the half-hour mark. Tidy football from the hosts took out City defenders, with Ryan Giles pinging in a cross for Gelhardt to tap in at the back post.
City fans chanted “Marti, sort it out!” during the first period and his attempt to do so saw Jeremy Monga and Aaron Ramsey brought on at half-time.
And it was Ramsey who gave City hope of a comeback. After Ayew laid the ball off to the midfielder, he dug out a terrific shot from 20 yards that looped over Ivor Pandur and into the top corner.
City pushed harder and harder and they created chances. But they also left space for Hull to exploit. So after Abdul Fatawu blazed over, City then needed Jakub Stolarczyk to deny Joe Gelhardt from a tight angle.
City piled on the pressure and came within a whisker of an equaliser in added time. Fatawu danced around the challenges and teed up Winks, but his 20-yard strike bounced back off the bar.
**Jakub Stolarczyk:** Millar’s goal was an excellent finish, but he was taken out of the game completely by Giles’ cross for the second. There were some dodgy passes and fumbles with his hands too, although he did deny Gelhardt well late on. **4**
**Hamza Choudhury:** He afforded Millar far too much space, both to cross and for the winger’s goal, choosing to stand on the line rather than keep tabs on his man. He did well to set up Daka’s chance, but didn’t provide much other than that. **4**
**Wout Faes:** He dribbled forward regularly in the first half but didn’t really get anywhere, and then wasn’t decisive enough in his defending to prevent counters. In the second half, he was fine. **5**
**Jannik Vestergaard:** There were a couple of crunching tackles, but he was also statuesque at times and let players peel off him. His passing, off target at first, started to find its mark later on and helped City put pressure on. **5**
**Luke Thomas:** His attempted interception left him in no man’s land for the first goal, and then he lost all track of Gelhardt for the second. Going forward, there were a few decent crosses and passes, but not enough to make up for the poor defensive moments. **4**
**Harry Winks:** He looked for the penetrative passes to James in the first half, but when they didn’t come off, he kept it steady. He was busy without ever truly influencing the game. It was a great effort against the bar at the death. **5**
**Boubakary Soumare:** A bizarre game. He was so poor for so long, not knowing what to do on the ball, losing it regularly, and looking uncomfortable in attack. But then he improved greatly and set up big chances for Ramsey and Fatawu, supporting the winger well on the right. **4**
**Jordan James:** Perhaps harshly subbed because he was far from the worst City player in the first half, albeit he wasn’t as influential as usual. He made runs beyond Daka to try to get into the box, although lacked sharp control when he was there, while he played some nice first-time passes to Fatawu. **5**
**Abdul Fatawu:** Similar to so many other matches this season in that he ran into trouble, overhit crosses, and made poor decisions with his shots. And yet, he was so often City’s most dangerous player, and did brilliantly to tee up Winks late on. **5**
**Patson Daka:** A difficult evening in which he was almost totally ineffective, even as someone to stretch the game. He lacked strength when chasing loose balls and sometimes tripped himself up, while his touch was lacking at times too. Could he have shown more conviction with his big chance? It was a superb block by Ajayi. **3**
**Jordan Ayew:** His close control was good and his lay-offs when playing centrally were accurate, setting up Ramsey’s goal. But he fluffed his lines for his big chance in the first half, and another didn’t fall his way. **5**
**Aaron Ramsey:** He was quiet, but then he came alive, arriving into the box to put a free header wide and then scoring a superb goal. He has a knack for knowing where to be in the box, and had a shot blocked late on too. In the build-up, he was sometimes lacking. **7**
**Jeremy Monga:** He beat his man with his first touch and looked like City’s best player. But after that 20-minute burst of brilliance, he went quiet. **6**
**Caleb Okoli:** Did the job he needed to do, which wasn’t a lot with City on the front foot. **5**
**Julian Carranza:** City lobbed the ball into the box but no chances fell his way. **4**
**Victor Kristiansen:** Only on for a few minutes, but he looked unsure of himself in most if not all of his actions. **N/A**