Hull 3 Bournemouth 1: Abel Hernandez fires home twice to give new Hull boss Marco Silva first Prem win

ABEL HERNANDEZ gave struggling Hull City’s new boss Marco Silva a first Premier League win at the double.

The fit-again Uruguyan hitman scored twice in the 32nd and 50th minutes to see off Bournemouth who had taken an early lead through a Junior Stanislas penalty.

A 62nd minute own goal from Tyrone Mills piled on the agony for the Cherries, but it was sheer delight delight for Silva and the long suffering Tigers’ fans.

Keep up to date with ALL the Hull City and Bournemouth gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary

Harry Maguire’s poorly-timed third minute challenge was punished from the spot as Stanislas stepped up to lash the ball beyond Eldin Jakupovic.

But just after the half hour Andrew Robertson found acres of space to pick out a cross from the left wing that landed perfectly for Hernandez to nod in on his first start since suffering a groin injury in November.

Five minutes after the break Hernandez sold Mings a couple of stepovers before curling a delightful left-footed finish beyond Artur Boruc.

Then Bournemouth failed to deal with a Robert Snodgrass free-kick into the area and the ball eventually fell for Tom Huddlestone to fire for goal.

His shot was probably going wide but Cherries defender Mings inadvertantly deflected the ball into his own net.

It was tough on Mings, making his first Premier League start after more than a year out through injury. He later jarred his knee but happily rose to his feet.

FACTS, STATS, GOALS AND LOLS

• Do I not like that – no pre-match tribute at Hull to the late, great Graham Taylor, who was from down the road in Scunthorpe.
• Eddie Howe was punished for making 11 changes for the FA Cup tie at Millwall. Andrew Surman and Tyrone Mings were the only survivors of that disaster.
• Howe wants to be careful. When Norwich boss Alex Neil rested players for the third round last season, his team also lost 3-0 and then went into freefall.
• Howe’s record in the transfer market is also coming under scrutiny. £10m striker Benik Afobe was hooked after 55 minutes and might as well have gone to the African Cup of Nations.
• There’s nothing like a good start in your first Premier League match. And Harry Maguire bringing down Ryan Fraser in the second minute was nothing like it for new Hull boss Marco Silva.

• Which rather took the shine off some pre-match good news for the home team, with Curtis Davies and Michael Dawson both fit to return from injury.
• Dawson showed the odd sign of rustiness and let Afobe in only for the Bournemouth striker to fluff his shot.
• Tyrone Mings had a minger of a game, losing Hernandez for the first Hull goal, backing him off to let him score the second and deflecting Tom Huddlestone’s off-target effort in for the third.
• Hernandez’s return from two months out with a groin injury could be a turning point – but only if he truly rediscovers the form of Hull’s promotion campaign.
• If you want guaranteed goals, though, Bournemouth are your team. That’s six games in a row where  they’ve scored or conceded at least three – or both!

BIG PICTURE

WHAT THEY SAID…

Marco Silva, Hull head coach:

“I’m happy because what I saw was a team with big spirit and big character. That’s important for me.

“After 10-15 minutes it was difficult, but we started to control the game and put the other team back. The first 25-30 minutes of the second half it was all our team.

“I start to see [progress]. We have time next week to work more and the players now believe more in our ideas.

“I saw my players smile in the dressing room and that’s important for me.”

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe: “We got the perfect start and from that point we were looking to consolidate and then it slipped away. The second half was tough to watch.

“The frustrating thing is we didn’t go for the game to try and put it to bed.

“We’re disappointed with all three goals. We’re in the middle of the season and we have everything to play for, Our season could still go two ways.”

DREAM TEAM RATINGS

HULL (4-4-2): Jakupovic 7; Maguire 7, Dawson 7, Davies 8 , Robertson 7; Diomande 7, Huddlestone 8, Mason 7 (Livermore 86, 6), Clucas, 7; Snodgrass 8 (Goebel 76, 6), Hernandez 9 (Niasse 83, 6)

Subs not used: Marshall, Weir, Tymon, Bowen

BOURNEMOUTH (4-2-3-1): Boruc 5; A Smithb7, Cook 6, Mings 5, Daniels 6; Arter 7, Surman 6; Stanislas 6 (Pugh 69, 7), Wilshere 7, Fraser 7 (King 55, 6); Afobe 6 (Wilson 66, 6)

Subs not used: Federici, Gosling, B Smith, Ibe.

REFEREE: Martin Atkinson.