Swansea City vs Hull City. Sky Bet Championship.
Swansea.com StadiumAttendance18,775.
Swansea City 1-0 Hull City: Controversial penalty adds to relegation fears of visitors
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Swansea City and Hull City at the Swansea.com Stadium on Good Friday;
Friday 18 April 2025 19:47, UK
Swansea made it four wins in a row under interim boss Alan Sheehan as they ensured Hull remain in the relegation battle with a 1-0 win at the Swansea.Com Stadium.
It took a controversial second-half penalty for Slovenia striker Zan Vipotnik to secure the three points, which pushed Swansea up to 11th and left Hull - who had Matt Crooks sent off in stoppage time - a mere two points above the drop zone.
Swansea came into the game on the crest of a wave having won their last three in a row and immediately took the game to Hull, completely dominating the first half. Lawrence Vigouroux had little or nothing to do for the first 45 minutes.
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But for all their pressure, possession and territory the home side were unable to open the scoring. Vipotnik thought he should have been given a penalty when he was clearly held back in the 39th minute, but referee Ben Toner had other ideas.
Hull head coach Ruben Selles was forced to replace left-back Sean McLoughlin with Cody Drameh in the 36th minute after he picked up one caution and was very fortunate not to see yellow a second time for another trip on Ronald.
Swansea finally made the breakthrough five minutes after the restart when Vipotnik had a shot blocked in the box and immediately appealed for handball. Mr Toner took his time to make his decision, but he eventually agreed that John Egan had handled and pointed to the spot.
Replays suggested the ball hit Egan's face but Vipotnik stepped up and sent Ivor Pandur the wrong way as he bagged his seventh goal of the season.
The visitors had been forced to play on the back foot for most of the first hour before Selles made a triple substitution, introducing Nordin Amrabat, Abu Kamara and Crooks.
The changes came immediately after the Hull fans had seen Lincoln drive into the box and get robbed on the penalty spot. Lincoln and the Hull fans screamed for a penalty but the referee once again waved play on.
Crooks then forced Vigouroux to make his first save of the game with a back-post header from a 63rd-minute corner.
Hull, who had taken a point from their last game against Coventry with an 82nd-minute goal from Kamara, pushed hard for an equaliser but were unable to create any clear chances.
Their hopes were further dashed in the first of the four minutes of added time when Crooks picked up his second yellow card in his half an hour on the field to leave his side one man short in the closing moments.
The managers
Swansea's Alan Sheehan:
"I like winning. The feeling of a sell-out crowd, people are watching their team giving 100 per cent in every action and isn't that what we all want from our teams?
"The game could have been done at half-time if we were more clinical but these are a difficult team to play against.
"We scored and tried to get the second and because we didn't, we had to defend for the last 15 minutes and our defensive structure as a team is incredibly pleasing.
"It's good when you build that belief. I've been a leader at clubs before and I know what momentum can do.
"Momentum can take you to crazy places and right now we are a team who have belief, momentum and togetherness."
Hull's Ruben Selles:
"The defenders told me the ball hit his face but the referee had a different interpretation so there is nothing I can do. Going 1-0 down made us chase the game.
"We could have defended the situation before the penalty arrived a little better, but the reality was that the game completely changed after that. That was the key action of the game.
"We weren't good in the first half and they were really good in applying pressure on us. We ended up trying to overplay the situation and we should have gone forward more."
