The new campaign has barely gathered momentum, yet Manchester United's Premier League title aspirations already appear to be in tatters. This was more than a mere defeat to newly promoted Hull City; it was a performance that exposed a lingering stagnation under Michael Carrick, whose side looks no closer to becoming genuine title contenders.

For the Red Devils' faithful, it was a swift return to a bleakly familiar reality: despair and disillusionment. Hull City, widely unfancied and tipped for the drop, ruthlessly dismantled their illustrious visitors with a clinical display from set-pieces.

Two deliveries into the heart of the United box derailed their opening Premier League fixture. The resulting goals highlighted the cavernous gulf between genuine challengers like Arsenal, who brushed Coventry City aside, and a United side that failed to extract even a solitary point from the MKM Stadium.

It was the same old story for the visitors as the nightmare began to unfold after just 17 minutes. Moments after Tzolakis had denied Bryan Mbeumo at the other end, Hull deservedly forged ahead from a corner.

Senne Lammens produced a magnificent reflex save to tip an initial header onto the post, but with the United defence caught ball-watching, the rebound fell perfectly for Semi Ajayi. The Nigerian defender bundled the ball home to spark wild celebrations in a city that has been starved of top-flight football since 2017.

While trailing is a position this Manchester United side knows only too well, the mountain became impossible to climb just after the half-hour mark. Regan Slater whipped a pinpoint free-kick in from the flank, allowing former Rayo Vallecano defender Nobel Mendy to rise highest and power home a header for 2-0.

Panic gripped United as they trudged off at the interval, thoroughly humbled by a side operating on the division's second-lowest wage bill—a club whose entire summer spend is dwarfed by the fee United are expected to pay for Carlos Baleba next week.

The half-time break offered no tactical salvation. Hull marshalled their defensive lines with disciplined ease, while United, even after introducing Marcus Rashford, lacked the ingenuity to penetrate the Tigers' stubborn rearguard.

A dark afternoon on the banks of the River Hull leaves the Red Devils playing catch-up from day one. What should have been a routine three points has instead turned into a crisis of confidence for Michael Carrick's men, fueling fears that their 13-year wait for a league title—stretching back to Alex Ferguson's final season—is set to continue indefinitely.

Nobel Mendy

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