KINGSTON, England
Hull City made a dream return to the Premier League after a nine-year absence, beating Manchester United 2-0 on Saturday to puncture any preseason optimism surrounding the 20-time champions.
First-half goals from Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy at set-pieces consigned United to a tepid loss away to a team that was promoted via the second-tier Championship playoffs at the end of last season and is widely expected to be among the relegation candidates.
United finished third last season to secure a return to the Champions League, rewarding interim manager Michael Carrick with a permanent contract as well as a new midfield in Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.
Marcus Rashford has come back from a loan spell at Barcelona and entered as a halftime substitute.
They struggled to impress along with many other players in a lackluster team display that showed United — last a Premier League champion in 2013 under Alex Ferguson — still has far to go to recapture its former glories and is unlikely to challenge for the title, at least on this evidence anyway.
“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.”
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