Hull City vs Middlesbrough. Sky Bet Championship.
MKM StadiumAttendance13,696.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Hull City and Middlesbrough at the MKM Stadium as an own goal from Boro goalkeeper Joe Lumley and a strike from Mallik Wilks give the Tigers victory
Saturday 2 October 2021 18:33, UK
Goalkeeper Joe Lumley's own goal helped Hull on their way to a 2-0 home win over Middlesbrough.
Keane Lewis-Potter's close-range strike after 81 minutes rebounded off the right post and went into the net off Lumley's head.
Substitute Mallik Wilks added a second in stoppage-time with a twisting run and shot that again hit the right post and squirmed in.
Lady Luck might have been on their side, but Hull supporters could not have cared one jot.
This was their team's first victory since the opening day of the season and they are now out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.
Middlesbrough fans, who jeered their players off at the end, left the MKM Stadium wondering how their team managed to lose.
Neil Warnock's side bossed the second half, but Andraz Sporar and Paddy McNair wasted glorious chances when the visitors were in full control.
Hull offered greater attacking intent during the first half, although Josh Emmanuel's speculative hit from distance - easily parried by Lumley - was as good as it got before the interval.
And having subdued the hosts' early vigour, Middlesbrough grew into the game, with Marc Bola a persistent threat on the left.
Indeed, Bola created the best chance before the restart when he slid a neat cross across the face of goal that Marcus Tavernier should have seized upon.
Tavernier's strike was well blocked by goalkeeper Matt Ingram, with the ricochet rebounding off the Boro winger for a goal-kick.
The visitors finished the first half on top. Sporar should have at least tested Ingram when he wildly spooned Tavernier's central through-ball over the crossbar after 39 minutes.
Hull's cause was not helped soon afterwards when centre-back Alfie Jones suffered an injury and had to be replaced by Sean McLoughlin.
Conditions deteriorated after the restart. This had a detrimental effect on the standard of football, already uninspiring at best.
But once Bola created space to shoot after 62 minutes, his goalbound effort superbly blocked by Andy Cannon, the game finally came alive.
Tavernier should have done better on a rare Boro counter-attack when he fired over the bar, while Sporar wasted the best chance of the game after 67 minutes.
Hull's defence were caught flat-footed from a subtle Matt Crooks pass from the right channel, which allowed Sporar the freedom of East Yorkshire to score.
However, the Slovenia international found the side-netting of Ingram's near post instead of the target.
Ingram later came to Hull's salvation with a strong right palm to deny McNair, whose thumping low volley was heading towards the left corner.
But once Lumley conceded a freakish own goal, Hull had space on the counter-attack to seal three points after 93 minutes.
Hull's Grant McCann: "It's a good win, given the circumstances. It's never easy to play against a Neil Warnock side - we had to match them and fight and battle. We rode our luck at times, of course we did, but we had to stay strong.
"You need a bit of luck in games. It's a great strike from Keane, but sometimes you need that luck - it just hits the goalkeeper. We've got a lot of young players learning on the job and we're only going to grow and get better. There were big performances all over the place. The players deserve all the credit - they were outstanding."
Middlesbrough's Neil Warnock: "It was a shock, really - I don't know how we've not won the game. We've had all those chances, and then the ball hits the goalie on the back of the head - he's our best striker at the minute. When it's one of those days, it's one of those days. You're not going to get any better chances than we had (in the second half). I don't know what else I can do, if I'm honest.
"I'm gutted - I'm sick as a parrot - but in the morning I'll be going again. It looks very bleak regarding injuries, but I'll come up with something. I don't think they could give me much more, but I just don't think we're getting anything near the rub of the green at the minute. I'm ready for the fight. If we can bring in anyone in, great. If we can't, we'll just have to do the best with what we've got."
