Hull City 2-0 Wrexham: FLW report as Tigers return to winning ways with dominant display vs Red Dragons | OneFootball

FLW report from the MKM Stadium for this Championship clash

Hull City returned to winning ways and the Championship play-off places with a 2-0 victory over Wrexham at the MKM Stadium.

After putting in their worst performance of the campaign against Middlesbrough last Friday, Sergej Jakirovic's side produced a dominant display against the Red Dragons as their manager, Phil Parkinson, watched from the stands.

Kyle Joseph set the Tigers on their way to victory with an instinctive finish after 10 minutes as he remained onside after an initial Matt Crooks effort was saved.

Ivor Pandur would also produce his second penalty save of the season in the early period of the second half, denying Kieffer Moore from 12 yards after a controversial decision to award the spot-kick.

Oli McBurnie was then introduced shortly after the hour-mark, with the forward marking his return with a seventh goal of the campaign after 68 minutes.

Hull City 2-0 Wrexham

The Tigers forged the first chance of the game inside two minutes as Joel Ndala's cross was acrobatically flicked on by Mohamed Belloumi towards Lewie Coyle, who fired over from a tight angle.

The returning Belloumi was able to skip away from Dom Hyam and pick out the onrushing Crooks, whose initial shot was parried into Joseph's path by Arthur Okonkwo, with the striker turning home from a matter of yards after 10 minutes.

Wrexham should have found themselves level six minutes later as Mooe somehow fired wide from inside the box after being gifted possession from the Tigers rearguard.

Okonkwo was then on his toes to prevent a second Hull strike as Ndala's cross deflected into Belloumi's path, with the ex-Arsenal goalkeeper averting the danger with an instinctive save.

The visitors saw minor appeals for a 30th-minute penalty waved away by Andrew Kitchen as James McClean fell under pressure after Nathan Broadhead was afforded time to burst into the box and dig out a cross intended for the Irishman.

Hull had three fine chances to double their lead 10 minutes before the break. A neat interchange between Belloumi and Crooks saw Ndala found inside the box, with the Manchester City loanee turning his latest effort over the bar under pressure, before Slater saw a low drive parried away and Belloumi was unable to flick home an inviting cross from the left.

Jakirovic's side started the second half in the exact same manner with two clear-cut openings. Neither Belloumi nor Ndala could convert Ryan Giles' 48th-minute cross before Coyle fired wide for the second time, whilst Broadhead fired a snapshot wide of Pandur's right-hand post in response.

The Welshman continued to carry the Red Dragons' greatest threat, and there were certainly nerves when his fizzing drive from 25 yards looped over Pandur's net off Semi Ajayi.

Broadhead would then be at the forefront of the action as Kitchen adjudged Crooks to have fouled the Wrexham forward, much to the disbelief of the home side, before Pandur stood firm and recorded a second spot-kick save of his season as Moore aimed for the right-hand corner.

McBurnie made his first appearance since October 18th after 63 minutes and made his presence well and truly felt within four minutes as he turned home Giles' low cross after making a well-timed run between Max Cleworth and Hyam.

Wrexham continued to push for a route back into the contest despite Josh Windass seeing a curling strike bend wide of the post from the left-hand-side of Hull's penalty area.

Liam Millar looked to cap off a dominant Hull performance with a goal of his own, firing inches over the bar with nine minutes to play, before Okonkwo pulled off a fine save to thwart fellow substitute, David Akintola.

Hull would see the remainder of the game out and rise up to sixth with a first victory in three, whilst Wrexham remain 14th after suffering a fifth defeat of the season.

FT: Hull City 2-0 Wrexham

Player Ratings

Hull City

Ivor Pandur - 7.5

Lewie Coyle - 7

Semi Ajayi - 7

Charlie Hughes - 7.5

Ryan Giles - 8

Regan Slater - 8

Matt Crooks - 8

Mohamed Belloumi - 7 (Akintola 70" - 6.5)

Darko Gyabi - 7 (Hadziahmetovic 81" - 6)

Joel Ndala - 6.5 (McBurnie 63" - 7.5)

Kyle Joseph - 7 (Millar 63" - 7)

Unused Subs: Dillon Phillips, John Egan, Cathal McCarthy, Akin Famewo, Hugh Parker

Wrexham

Arthur Okonkwo - 6.5

Max Cleworth - 6.5

Dom Hyam - 7

Dan Scarr - 6.5 (Doyle 46" - 6.5)

Ryan Barnett - 6.5 (Longman 78" - 6)

Ben Sheaf - 6 (James 83" - 6)

George Dobson - 6 (Windass 68" - 6)

James McClean - 6

George Thomason - 6.5

Nathan Broadhead - 7

Kieffer Moore - 6 (Smith 78" - 6)

Unused Subs: Callum Burton, Ollie Rathbone, Lewis O'Brien, Ryan Hardie

Sergej Jakirovic reacts as Hull City see off Wrexham

Speaking post-match, Jakirovic believed it was one of City's best performances of the season.

"I think yes (we controlled). In my opinion, we can play even better in possession.

"In this game, we controlled everything, mostly, except for when Kieffer Moore missed his chance after Matt Crooks badly received the ball.

"Second half, then the penalty. For me, this is a key moment," Jakirovic added. "If it is 1-1, the game is completely different. But, I already prepared Liam Millar and Oli McBurnie.

"Then Ivor (Pandur) saves the penalty. But, it doesn't matter as Oli steps on the pitch, scores the second goal and that is really important for us.

Reflecting on his side's reaction to the 4-1 defeat on Friday, the Bosnian continued: "Friday was the type of game that happens sometimes.

"When you watch the game, you cannot believe what was happening, so we gave a lot (away), and that was Middlesbrough's quality to punish our mistakes.

"But, we showed a good reaction and this is, in football, always very important. They couldn't wait for a new game to come to show there was a better (performance) in us."

Phil Parkinson reacts as Wrexham defeated by Hull City

Reacting to the end of his side's nine-game unbeaten streak, Parkinson said: "Disappointing from our point of view.

"First half, we were lacklustre and gave the ball away too many times, made poor decisions in possession and allowed a team that was always going to respond to Friday night, to press high and take the ball off us.

"All season, really, we've made good decisions and got ourselves footholds in games and built platforms," he added. "We didn't do that tonight, and we've got to review that.

"Second half, we started really well and got back in the game with some good play. The penalty's obviously a big moment for us.

"If that goes in, I felt momentum would've been right behind us," Parkinson claimed. "But, the miss gave the crowd a lift and their team a lift as well."

Hull City vs Wrexham Attendance

The attendance at the MKM Stadium for tonight's game was 19,464.