Hull back on track with win over slumping Blackburn

Posted Saturday, December 30, 2023 by PA

Blackburn lost a fourth game in a row as Hull moved back into the Sky Bet Championship play-offs with a 3-2 victory at the MKM Stadium.

Rovers were always up against it after Liam Delap and Aaron Connolly scored early in the first half.

Sammie Szmodics and Harry Pickering – on his 25th birthday and 100th start for the club – made it 2-2 at the break but Alfie Jones’ winner after 63 minutes condemned Jon Dahl Tomasson to another damaging loss.

Blackburn were reduced to 10 men when Dominic Hyam was sent off for a second bookable offence after 74 minutes.

Delap capitalised on some poor defending to open the scoring after 11 minutes, skipping past Pickering before charging into the penalty area. Hyam then failed to stop Delap thumping the ball in at Leopold Wahlstedt’s near post.

Blackburn nearly equalised moments later when Dilan Markanday teed up Semir Telalovic on the edge of the box. The German’s strike was unimpressive but took a jolting deflection off Jones on to the base of the left post.

The visitors were once again not at their best at the back after 18 minutes, with Hyam and James Hill outdone by a routine long ball, from which Connolly controlled well before cushioning a half-volley home.

The visitors reduced the deficit on 33 minutes when Arnor Sigurdsson’s speculative punt through the middle bisected Jones and Jacob Greaves. Szmodics had the nous to spot Matt Ingram off his line before expertly chipping home for his 15th goal of the season.

Pickering then restored parity deep into first-half injury time when he was played into the penalty area on the overlap. Ingram might have done better but a slight deflection skewed the ball from his grasp.

Hull were back ahead as Rovers failed to clear Tyler Morton’s corner from the left and Jones scraped the ball into the net from three yards.

Hyam was handed a second booking for a foul on Ozan Tufan and while Blackburn had plenty of possession thereafter, Ingram was never seriously tested.