Tonight’s game at the KCOM between home side Hull City and visitors Middlesbrough was a vital one for both sides. In more that one way, it was one of those oft-cliched ‘six-pointer’ games.
Boro have been somewhat revitalised under Neil Warnock from the punchbags they were under Jonathan Woodgate. For Hull City, the period before lockdown was bleak beyond belief. The Tigers returned just two points from 36 available, losing 10 in 12 games.
It was the Tigers who fell behind to an early penalty, converted by Britt Assombalonga (4′) to give the Teessiders an early lead. Four minutes later Liverpool loanee Herbie Kane (8′) equalised with a peach of a free-kick.
The minutes ticked by and that’s how it looked it was going to finish. However, in time added-on, on-loan Barnsley forward Malik Wilks popped up (90+2′) to snatch all three points at the death.
Commenting after the game, Hull City boss Grant McCann told Sky Sports (per the Hull Live) just how he felt about the result. On the win, he said:
“It’s a big win. There’s no getting away from it with six games to go now until the end of the season. We’ve come back [from lockdown] in a good place, you know. Before lockdown, we had so many injuries and we were on a tricky run. We were unlucky against Charlton, we were unlucky against Birmingham and we’ve got the win today.“
Commenting on the game itself and the manner of the victory, McCann was open and honest. He admitted it wasn’t the greatest spectacle, explaining:
“It wasn’t pretty. I think the ball’s got a migraine but listen, when you’re playing against a Neil Warnock team who want to get the ball forward I thought we defended very well.”
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the beauty of this result is that it lifts Hull City out of the bottom three and puts them 19th on 45 points. It’s getting congested down at the bottom of the table with just six points separating bottom side Luton Town (40) and 18th place Charlton (46).
YouTube: Hull score injury time winner to leapfrog ‘Boro! | Hull 2-1 Middlesbrough | Championship Highlights
