Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Hull City: Ryan Longman scores late Tigers winner

Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Blackburn Rovers and Hull City at Ewood Park on Sunday; Ryan Longman scores late to seal victory for Ruben Selles' Tigers side.

Sunday 29 December 2024 18:27, UK

Hull moved out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone with a 1-0 win at play-off chasers Blackburn.

Ryan Longman's first goal of the season 13 minutes from the end was enough to give Ruben Selles his first away victory as Hull boss and they became only the third team to win at Ewood Park this season.

It barely tells the story of a game which saw Blackburn struggle to find their usual rhythm, yet will feel they should have taken one of the chances they created.

Todd Cantwell's second-half miss was the most glaring, while Alfie Jones produced heroics three times to thwart Rovers, most notably in the first half to deny Amario Cozier-Duberry.

Regan Slater was denied by Aynsley Pears in the first half and Gustavo Puerta struck a post late on. But Hull ended a dismal run of five consecutive away defeats to scramble out of the relegation zone.

Rovers are winless in three and remain fifth.

Hull skipper Jones twice saved his team in the first period as he brilliantly blocked a flicked back-heel from Makhtar Gueye in the seventh minute, and was in the right place just after the hour when Cozier-Duberry's left-foot shot beat Ivor Pandur but he heroically cleared off the line.

A Blackburn opener felt inevitable but Pears' poor pass gave Slater an opportunity. His first effort was blocked but he reacted quickest to poke goalwards, which Pears' outstretched foot blocked.

The hosts cranked up the pressure in the second half, and a pivotal moment arrived in the 68th minute when relentless pressing from Owen Beck and Yuki Ohashi forced a mistake in the Tigers' defence and the ball fell invitingly to Cantwell 12 yards out but he somehow placed his shot wide of the goal.

Cantwell tried to make amends, crossing for Beck moments later but his first-time shot was too high.

That profligacy was ruthlessly punished in the 77th minute when Hull carved Blackburn open with a move started by Joao Pedro and finished when Slater's pass found Longman on the left who controlled before coolly lifting the ball over Pears and into the left corner.

Longman almost repeated the trick in the 82nd minute when he met Puerta's cross at the back post but Pears scrambled to save.

They should have made the points safe two minutes from time though when the ball fell to Puerta in the area and although his shot beat Pears, it hit the post and agonisingly away to safety.

Rovers almost repeated their late heroics against Sunderland when a cross found substitute Andi Weimann in injury time but that man Jones was there again, flinging himself to the ground to block and secure the points.

The managers

Blackburn's John Eustace:

"It's a disappointing result. I thought it was a really difficult game. We created a couple of really good chances and we needed to be more clinical. It was never going to be pretty and obviously we needed to defend the box better in that second half.

"Everyone's disappointed to lose the game but overall the lads kept going. The attitude was good and we move onto the next one.

"I thought we created two or three golden chances that we needed to put away which we didn't. Hull are a really good team. They've got some really good individuals and if you don't defend the box better, which we didn't, they're going to score.

"It's important we don't get too disappointed. The boys have been magnificent this year. They go into the new year in the top six, which is really exciting."

Hull's Ruben Selles:

"We are happy of course. It's always a very difficult place to come. They were in good form, maybe not in the last couple of games, but overall, in very good form.

"We know it's a really intense team, especially when they win those balls in the middle of the pitch and go quick in the transition. I think the application for our boys was good, growing in the game, staying in the game and at half time, we adjusted a couple of things.

"Then when we made three substitutions, we really made that step forward and started to create chances to score. The way that we finished the game was massive. I think we demand many times to be ruthless in the box, not only attacking, but defending also, and I think that we saw that today.

"We performed as good as our opponent and took our chances. We've proved we can compete against any team in the league."