This has suddenly become the place to go for struggling Premier League clubs in search of points to calm relegation nerves. West Bromwich Albion claimed three there eight days ago and on Saturday it was Hull City’s turn.
The opening goal might have been disallowed for handball by another referee on another day, and only Mark Clattenburg saw the foul that ruled out what would have been an equaliser by Yaya Sanogo for Crystal Palace after 83 minutes, but Hull will not care after holding out for the win that kept them out of the bottom three.
It was their first victory in seven matches and a vital one. With home matches against Liverpool, Arsenal, Burnley and Manchester United and a trip to Tottenham remaining, this was a game they had to win, and they deserved to. They came into the match bottom-but-one of the form table over the past six games, but they looked up for the fight while Palace’s minds seemed to be on the beaches.
“The manner of the performance from us, from the moment we kicked off, was there for everyone to see,” Steve Bruce said. “You’ve got to have the courage to take the ball and play, and we were worthy winners. Now we’ve got four out of five at home, we’re against big teams and we know we have to get a result against at least one of them, and the Burnley game looks huge.”
Dame N’Doye, the Senegal forward signed for £3 million from Lokomotiv Moscow in January, shrugged off the disappointment of a barely believable miss before the break to score early and late in the second half, his fourth and fifth goals for the club. “He has given the team a lift,” Bruce said. “You’re only as good as what you have up front.”
Palace have now lost nine home games, more than any other team in the division, and although Alan Pardew admitted that Hull had deserved their result, he was unhappy about time-wasting and the non-award of a penalty to his team for a second-half trip on Wilfried Zaha as well as Clattenburg’s other rulings. “Big decisions went against us,” he said. “But we weren’t at it today as we have been. We will address that.”
Bruce, manager at Palace for five months in 2001 before departing for Birmingham City via a spell of gardening leave, was jeered to his place in the dugout by Palace fans with long memories, but he had the last laugh even if Hull had two early escapes when James Chester appeared to handle Jason Puncheon’s free kick, and then Glenn Murray put a good chance straight at Steve Harper, the Hull goalkeeper.
But Palace were just as uncertain in defence and after 15 minutes Robbie Brady’s first-time cross from the left found N’Doye unmarked four yards out, but he somehow managed to produce an effort that looked more like a well-timed clearance than a shot at goal. Far more impressive was Tom Huddlestone’s 22-yard curler four minutes later that was bound for the top far corner until Julián Speroni leapt to his left to turn the shot away.
The goal Hull had threatened came after 51 minutes, but Brady’s hand clearly made contact with the ball as he controlled a high pass from Sone Aluko before setting up N’Doye to score from a yard out. Controversial or not, it looked likely to be enough until the Palace substitute Sanogo headed past Harper seven minutes from time. But Clattenburg indicated that the forward had pulled back Paul McShane, a foul of which there was little evidence on TV replays.
In a final flourish, Hull hit the bar through Liam Rosenior’s dipping volley before N’Doye broke away to finish with a low shot across Speroni as Palace pushed up in vain search of an equaliser.
