A chaotic afternoon in South London saw the Tigers win again
Hull City gave their fans a pre-Christmas present in the capital with a 3-1 win at third-placed Millwall to retain their place inside the Championship’s top six, in what turned out to be a fiery encounter at The Den.
Millwall could have been two up inside two minutes, with Ivor Pandur denying the hosts, and it proved crucial because the Tigers scored two quick-fire goals through Kyle Joseph, with both created by Mo Belloumi and Liam Millar, with the pair starting for the first time together in more than a year.
Femi Azeez was sent off for a rash challenge on Joseph with 15 minutes to go, and that sparked the home side into life with substitute Aidomo Emakhu finishing well to set up a nervy finale.
Any lingering hope of a dramatic comeback from the 10 men was ended when Lewie Coyle crossed for Oli McBurnie to grab his second goal in as many games with a clinical near-post header in front of 1,300 travelling supporters.
City boss Sergej Jakirovic made two changes from Wednesday night’s win over Wrexham, with Amir Hadziahmetovic returning to the starting XI in place of Darko Gyabi, while there was a first start since recovering from his hamstring injury for Liam Millar. It was the first time the pair had started a game together since Burnley last October, 416 days ago.
The hosts flew out of the traps and forced Pandur into two saves inside two minutes to deny Tristan Crama and Mihailo Ivanovic, with City hanging on by a thread, but were in front after six minutes with their first real attack. Belloumi did brilliantly to beat Alfie Doughty on the right before finding Joseph inside the box to angle into the far corner with his left foot.
No sooner had 1,300 away fans finished celebrating than it was 2-0 within 13 chaotic minutes. Hughes won the ball off Femi Azeez and found Amir who freed Millar down the left, he made his way into the box and laid it on a plate for Joseph to turn in from close range.
Belloumi was the chief tormentor, and almost angled in City’s third from the edge of the box after he saw a shot well and Slater’s mazy run and shot was narrowly blocked. Chances continued to come for the Tigers, who had protected Pandur well after that chaotic opening.
Millar was booked early in the second period before Alex Neil made a double change just after the hour with Amakhu and Langstaff replacing Ballo and Bangura-Williams.
The Canadian ace was lucky to get away without a second yellow card when he blasted the ball away after being given offside, a decision that you can imagine was not well received by the partisan home crowd. Rightly, Sergej Jakirovic took him off at the next opportunity, replacing him with Oli McBurnie with just over 25 minutes to go.
Two more changes followed with David Akintola and Darko Gyabi replacing the excellent Belloumi, who deserved his standing ovation from the away fans, and Amir.
If the home angst was high before Femi Azeez was dismissed for a rash challenge on Kyle Joseph, it certainly was with 13 minutes to go when Gavin Ward produced his red card.
Despite their anger, Millwall regrouped and dragged themselves back into it when a superb ball in behind Coyle found Emakhu inside left, and he shot across Pandur to give the hosts an unlikely lifeline.
Caleb Taylor made a stunning last-ditch tackle to deny Slater a third City goal after a lovely exchange with McBurnie. John Egan was on for the final four minutes in place and the game was killed off with two minutes left when McBurnie headed in at the near post from an inch-perfect Coyle cross.
Amid the anger from the home side, there was a booking for a member of the Lions’ bench. And Giles was added to Gavin Ward’s Christmas card list in added time.
After winning at second-placed Stoke City in their last away game, the Tigers backed up Wednesday’s home success against Wrexham to notch 10 wins for the campaign.
Millwall: Crocombe, Sturge, Crama, Cooper, Taylor, Ballo (Emakhu 61), Ivanovic, Neghli, Azeez, Doughty, Bangura-Williams (Langstaff 61). Subs: Benda, McNamara, Langstaff, Emakhu, Bryan, Grant, Matthews, Harding, Howland.
Hull City: Pandur, Giles, Hughes, Ajayi, Coyle (c), Amir (Gyabi 73), Slater, Crooks, Millar (McBurnie 65), Joseph (Egan 88), Belloumi (Akintola 73). Subs: Phillips, Famewo, Egan, McBurnie, Gyabi, Ndala, Akintola, Drameh, McCarthy.
Referee: Gavin Ward
Man of the Match: Mo Belloumi
Attendance: 16,419 (1,300 from Hull City)
Here at Hull Live , we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group.
You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service.
Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.