Dame N'Doye scored an 89th-minute winner as Hull City grabbed a dramatic 2-1 victory over 10-man Queens Park Rangers at the KC Stadium on Saturday.
Nikica Jelavic opened the scoring on the quarter-hour mark, before the visitors shot themselves in the foot midway through the first half when Joey Barton was sent off for a punch on Tom Huddlestone.
Charlie Austin equalised in the 39th minute, but his side could not hold on to a point as the Senegalese striker celebrated his 30th birthday with a late strike.
Here, Sports Mole analyses all the action from the 90 minutes on Humberside.
Match statistics
HULL CITY
Shots: 16
On target: 6
Possession: 54%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 18
QUEENS PARK RANGERS
Shots: 8
On target: 3
Possession: 46%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 15
Was the result fair?
Pound for pound, the hosts were the dominant side in today's game, mustering twice as many efforts as their opponents. Jelavic was given way too much space for the opening goal and, even though Hull should have got themselves further in front following Barton's outrageous actions, QPR did well to equalise through star man Austin. Given the balance of play, the Tigers would have been aggrieved had they not secured all three points, though they left it rather late.
Hull's performance
A solid performance from Steve Bruce's charges that warranted a victory. Allan McGregor was not at fault for Austin's goal, and was solid throughout when called upon. The defence was sturdy, although Paul McShane and David Meyler struggled to contain the QPR goalscorer at times. The midfield was on good form and benefited from the void in the Hoops midfield after Barton's dismissal, while the front line was a constant menace in the final third and perhaps should have had more goals.
QPR's performance
Robert Green was shaky at times and fumbled a few crosses, though he was unlucky to concede against N'Doye after his great initial save from the Senegalese. Likewise, the defence was not as steadfast as could be, with Rio Ferdinand and Steven Caulker being caught out time and time again, although debutant Darnell Furlong was quite impressive given his young age and inexperience. Aside from Matt Phillips and Austin, the rest of the midfield and front line were rather mediocre, though, given their captain's reckless sending off, perhaps that is not much of a surprise.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Tom Huddlestone: The midfielder pulled the strings in the centre of the park, nearly scoring a 25-yard screamer early on, and was a constant menace pushing up front, despite being on the receiving end of several late challenges, not to mention a rather low blow by Barton.
Biggest gaffe
There's only one candidate here - what was Joey Barton thinking? Even if he was aggrieved by seeing his young teammate receive a booking, there cannot be much excuse for throwing a low punch at an opposition player - particularly when the referee is standing right there.
Referee performance
A largely anonymous performance from Anthony Taylor, who, aside from waving away a potential penalty appeal when Meyler was brought down in the ninth minute as he was charging into the QPR box, had little to do. The red card that he had to dish out was pretty much the easiest decision that a referee could have ever had to make.
What next?
Hull: The Tigers, now 15th in the Premier League table, travel to Stoke City on February 28.
QPR: Rangers, who remain 17th in the table, host in-form Arsenal in a London derby on March 4.
Giuseppe Labellarte
