Hull City 2-1 Swansea City: FLW report as Tigers edge past Swans to record three straight wins | OneFootball

FLW report live from the MKM Stadium for this Championship fixture

Hull City edged past Swansea City to record three straight victories in the Championship with a 2-1 success at the MKM Stadium.

After a dull opening, Oli McBurnie opened the scoring on 24 minutes, with his 11th of the season coming from the penalty spot before Regan Slater doubled the lead six minutes before half-time.

The Swans would come out firing and provide a scare for Sergej Jakirovic's side when Liam Cullen headed home from a corner after 59 minutes. However, Vitor Matos' men were unable to secure a share of the spoils despite a valiant second-half effort.

Hull City 2-1 Swansea City

After a slow start to the fixture, Swansea came close on 14 minutes with their first corner as Cameron Burgess' header from Josh Tymon's delivery looped just wide of the left-hand post.

McBurnie looked to add yet another acrobatic effort to his collection three minutes later, before eventually coming back to haunt his former club from the penalty spot midway through the half, after Ben Cabango was adjudged to have handled inside the box.

Vigoroux pulled off a smart save to keep the margin at one just moments later after Tigers forward, Kyle Joseph, raced onto Hadziahmetovic's through ball before firing from a tight angle, whilst Swansea should have levelled from the resulting counter-attack as the division's top scorer, Zan Vipotnik, turned Tymon's low cross wide with the goal at his mercy.

With 11 minutes of the first period remaining, Hull squandered a golden chance to add a second as Joseph failed to connect with Liam Millar's low cross, before Vipotnik missed another prime opportunity to fire past Ivor Pandur from close range less than a minute later.

Jakirovic's men then made their opponents pay as Slater lashed home a stunning effort into the right-hand corner from the edge of the box after a quick break for his second of the campaign.

It could have been game over before the interval as Joe Gelhardt and Millar saw their respective efforts fall inches wide of the post, before Vigoroux denied the Canadian twice in as many minutes, tipping over a curling and goalbound strike.

Looking for a route back into the contest, it was the Swans who started the second period brighter, with half-time substitute, Josh Key, forcing Pandur into his first save of the encounter after 51 minutes, before ex-Hull left-back, Tymon, saw a long-range effort deflected behind.

Matos' side continued to dominate proceedings as the half progressed, with Pandur on hand to tip an initial Cullen header past the post, although the Swansea attacker would get the better of the Croatian through a carbon copy of the aforementioned chance with 31 minutes remaining, adding to the home crowd's nervousness.

Jay Fulton then tried his luck at squaring the game up with an audacious curling effort that had Pandur alert all the way, until the ball narrowly sailed over the crossbar.

John Egan and Hull substitute, Yu Hirakawa, almost combined to great effect on 65 minutes to restore their side's two-goal deficit, with the experienced defender's close-range header falling just wide.

The Tigers then had Pandur to thank once more midway through the half, as Swans substitute, Marko Stamenic, stung the shot-stopper's palms with a fierce drive after failing to be closed down by anyone in black and amber.

With 15 minutes to go, Vigoroux was on hand to initially palm Hirakawa's 25-yard strike into the path of the onrushing Joseph, who saw the rebound also tipped to safety by the Chilean.

As Hull looked to see the game out, another of Matos' substitutes, Melker Widell, forced Pandur into a smart save with a curling strike from distance, before the resulting corner was eventually cleared.

Although the Swans continued to probe until the game's final seconds, a third win in seven days ensure the Tigers remain fourth, and have now accumulated more points after 28 games than the entirety of last season with 50, whilst Swansea remain 16th on 36 points.

FT: Hull City 2-1 Swansea City

Player Ratings

Hull City

Ivor Pandur - 7

Lewie Coyle - 6.5

Charlie Hughes - 7

John Egan - 6.5

Akin Famewo - 6.5

Amir Hadziahmetovic - 7.5 (Jacob 71" - 6)

Regan Slater - 8

Kyle Joseph - 7 (Dowell 88" - 6)

Joe Gelhardt - 7 (Lundstram 56" - 6)

Liam Millar - 7 (Hirakawa 56" - 7)

Oli McBurnie - 7.5 (Akintola 72" - 6)

Unused Subs: D.Phillips, C.McCarthy, M.Crooks, J.Ndala

Swansea City

Laurence Vigouroux - 6.5

Ethan Galbraith - 6 (Key 46" - 6.5)

Ben Cabango - 6.5

Cameron Burgess - 7

Josh Tymon - 7.5

Jay Fulton - 7 (Yalcouye 80" - 6)

Ronald - 7 (Nunes 66" - 6.5)

Goncalo Franco - 6.5 (Widell 65" - 6.5)

Liam Cullen - 7

Eom Ji-sung - 6.5 (Stamenic 65" - 6.5)

Zan Vipotnik - 6.5

Unused Subs: A.Fisher, J.Ward, O.Cooper, B.Wales

Sergej Jakirovic reacts as Hull City record crucial win vs Swansea City

Reacting to his side's latest success, Jakirovic said: "I think it was a good decision to change formation, because Swansea put everything offensively on the pitch, which was expected.

"We agreed at half-time that we were searching for a third goal, but we dropped immediately. Especially in the first 15 minutes (of the second half), we couldn't keep the ball forward.

"I think Swansea deserved to score, because in the first half, (Zan) Vipotnik missed and it was very lucky for us, because it was a 100 percent, 200 percent chance (of going in)," he admitted.

"We used our own situation through the penalty and Regan's (Slater) outstanding goal.

"In the second half, we didn't lose our heads at 2-1, I think. We tried to break their rhythm with substitutions, a change of formation and more stability so that we could control their 'number eights' in pockets and when they attack in the space behind us.

"Maybe between (John) Egan and Kyle Joseph, we could have scored a third. Ivor (Pandur) also saved some shots that were very good.

"In the end, we are very happy. After seven days, three games, nine points. If someone told me that (before), I would have called them crazy," the Bosnian added.

Vitor Matos reacts as Swansea City defeated by Hull City

Reacting to Swansea's narrow defeat in East Yorkshire, Matos' initial thoughts were: "A game of two halves.

"Football is about efficiency, taking chances and scoring. Unfortunately, today, we didn't, and that's how you can summarise the game.

When asked about Vipotnik's two clear-cut missed chances, the Portuguese added: "Vipotnik has given so much to us that it's about a moment.

"He didn't score, but he scored so many before. There's no one more unhappy than him at this moment, but I think it's important to look at what he offers in terms of the team, how he pushes the team up and how he puts his heart into everything.

"I think both teams started really aggressively and were trying to get the best out of the moment.

"Hull were playing but finding Liam (Millar) with his speed and Oli (McBurnie) as a reference, but we're pressing, counter-pressing and trying to be dominant with the ball, finding the best players to do that.

"The details of the penalty changed the game. It was hard for us to take, and it created a bit of instability, but there were still chances (for us)," Matos explained.

"Then at 2-0, maybe that could have been discussable, when Jay (Fulton) was stood on, stayed down, the ball came outside the box, shot, and it was 2-0.

"A good reaction at half-time. But, there were two goals for us to come back.

"We tried, that's what we can take from it. But, we need to find consistency."

Attendance

The attendance at the MKM Stadium this afternoon was 21,912.