HULL CITY 0, MANCHESTER UNITED 0
A goalless draw at the KC Stadium saw Hull City fall short in their quest to stave off relegation against Manchester United who ended the season with just one win in six matches.
Wayne Rooney hit the bar for United in the third minute but that was the end of Hull’s supply of good fortune on the day – by the time Marouane Fellani had been sent off for what Louis Van Gaal described as an “unbelievably stupid” foul the Tigers’ fate had been sealed as they couldn’t find a goal even with a man advantage in the last 13 minutes.
Fellaini may find his role in the United pecking order diminished following his red card for a challenge on Paul McShane, with Van Gaal stating that the big Belgian could find himself starting from the bench next season after earning United’s fifth red card of the season which will see him suspended with three league matches.
Early goals at the Emirates Stadium for the Gunners had crushed any lingering hopes of snatching third place from Arsenal, meaning United would have to look forward to a two-legged Champions League play-off in August to qualify for the group stage.
Newcastle United won their game against West Ham up at Saint James’ Park with two late goals making any result for Hull purely academic but the Tigers might have given their home fans something to roar about had either of two early disallowed goals been allowed to stand.
Paul McShane and Dame N’Doye’s strikes in the 18th and 20th minutes were both correctly ruled offside.
Hull had been luckless all season with injuries and the assistant referee wasn’t about to do them any favours.
Angel Di Maria, handed a rare start by Louis Van Gaal, was replaced by Adnan Januzaj after just 22 minutes following an injury and Marouane Fellaini, on as a 59th minute substitute for Ashley Young, was sent off 18 minutes later after tangling with McShane.
Hull might have had striker Abel Hernandez sent off earlier for appearing to aim a punch at Phil Jones’ stomach but the incident seemed to have been missed by referee Lee Probert meaning the Uruguayan might face retrospective action over his it.
Other United players appear have been playing for their futures today, with Victor Valdes – in for the injured David De Gea – singled out for praise by Van Gaal after stepping in for the Spanish stopper.
Valdes denied Ahmed Elmohamady and Nikica Jelavic while David Meyler should have done better when presented with a good chance and Daley Blind cleared off the line when Valdes did have a rush of blood late on but in truth by the end of an lengthy eight minutes of added time for injuries, Hull’s time in the Premier League came to an end.
UPDATE: Manchester United confirmed that on-loan Colombian striker Radamel Falcao has returned to his parent club AS Monaco. The 29 year old had scored just four goals for United during his loan spell this season and appeared to wave to the Old Trafford crowd after he was substituted during the 1-1 draw against Arsenal last week.
United manager Louis Van Gaal had earlier confirmed that all decisions about player comings and going had already been made but was unwilling to share specific details.