Sunderland dominated possession in the first half after Hull City surprised the visitors with their deep defence, opting instead to play on the break. That changed at the start of the second half but Wilson Isidor’s goal against the run of play gave the Black Cats a lead they then never looked like relinquishing.
Anthony Patterson had few saves to make in the final stages as Sunderland kept a clean sheet.
“I thought it was a game of two halves,” Hume said.
“We kept the ball very well in the first half and they did the same in the second; we were probably counteracting each other with tactics and stuff like that, but we’re delighted with the three points. They had a chance just before the goal where they hit the crossbar so we were lucky to get away with that and then Wilson scored to take the pressure off. They keep the ball very well and play out from the back so we to be solid and we did that well today.
“I thought we managed the game a lot better, a bit more professional if you want to put it like that. We pressed them in the first half and, to be fair, did it very well. In the second, they got out a bit more and we probably managed that and sat off a bit. So they had more of the ball but we managed the game and managed our legs a bit. We analysed them before and we knew they were strong at keeping the ball. In the first half, they were very aggressive in their counterattacks, which we didn’t really expect; we hadn’t really seen that from them. We adapted to it in the second half so they saw more of the ball, but we managed it well.”
Hull City were frustrated with referee Bobby Madley’s positioning for Isidor’s goal, but Hume said he hadn’t seen any issue at the time. “I didn’t really see where the ref was, to be honest. I just saw Dan nick the ball and then Wilson running away, so I don’t really see where the problem is.”
In his interview with club media, Hume also said that Sunderland had planned for Hull City’s short corners.
“We analysed them during the week and they like to set up with short corners. We set up with three to stop their three and to force them to the edge and press from there. We were able to do that and the idea was whenever we do that for Wilson to run, which is what he’s done.”
