4th October, 2014
Hull City hauled themselves up to eighth place in the Premier League on Saturday, taking all three points in a decidedly lacklustre 2-0 home win over Crystal Palace.
After a fairly dire first-half in which neither side could muster a single shot on target, Mohamed Diame headed Hull in front on the hour, rising high above three Palace defenders to direct home Andrew Robertson’s deflected cross from the left.
The goal seemed to spur Palace into life and after a period of pressure should have equalised when Yannick Bolasie cut in from the left and hit a stinging shot which Steve Harper in the Hull goal did well to throw himself at and turn behind.
Jason Puncheon then headed over from Damien Delaney’s resultant corner.
But as the match lapsed back into the mundane and it looked as though neither side would seriously threaten the target again, Nikica Jelavic popped up in the final minute to slide the ball home to secure the victory.
Hull survived a scare moments later, though, as Liam Roseinor had to be alert to clear Damien Delanye’s header from Bolasie’s corner off the line.
In terms of possession, Hull were streets ahead, but were quite unable to convert their overall territorial advantage into chances.
The closest they came in the first half were an early Jelavic header over the bar and Robertson’s shot from the left which flashed across the face of the goal.
Meanwhile Palace’s only attempts of note in the first half were Mile Jedinak’s shot from a free kick which sailed over the top and a Puncheon effort from long range.
The visitors were forced into an early change after just 11 minutes when defender Scott Dann came off second best in a challenge in the area and had to be stretchered off and replaced by Adrian Mariappa.
Dann reappeared on crutches to join the bench at half-time, limping heavily, his leg strapped up.