Hull 3-3 Crystal Palace: Fraizer Campbell seals point in thriller

Hull and Crystal Palace ended up sharing the spoils after serving up a pulsating afternoon of pre-Christmas Premier League football at the KCOM Stadium.

A breathless encounter finished 3-3 in the end, having featured two penalties, one of them hugely controversial, a goal of the season candidate, and a dramatic late equaliser from Palace sub Fraizer Campbell.

Having scored twice in quick succession to hit back from 2-1 down, struggling Hull will be disappointed not to have held on to claim what would have been a huge three points.

But a draw was probably the right result, especially considering the hosts were fortunate to be in front at the break, Robert Snodgrass having converted a penalty after going down untouched in the area.

Wilfried Zaha was superb for Palace and the speedy wide man burst into the box after just five minutes, only to be denied by an excellent fingertip save from David Marshall.

Palace were the better side early on but Hull, who fielded three centre-backs as part of a reconfigured defence, gradually began to settle into the match.

And they looked set to take the lead when Adama Diomande raced through, only for the alert Wayne Hennessey to sprint out of his goal and save the shot with his chest.

The hosts then went 1-0 up in highly contentious fashion, Snodgrass going to ground as he tried to latch onto an Andrew Robertson cross, with replays suggesting Scott Dann had successfully pulled out of the tackle.

Snodgrass, who was already on a booking, was unfazed by the furore the decision provoked, slamming a fine penalty into the top corner, as Hennessey went the wrong way.

The goal seemed to unsettle Palace and Hull looked fairly comfortable either side of the break, only for Snodgrass to then make a major impact once again.

But this time the Hull man was on the other side of a decision, giving away a penalty himself when he tripped Zaha as the Palace man twisted and turned in the corner of the area.

Christian Benteke [52] stepped up and calmly sent Marshall the wrong way from the spot, side-footing the ball into the net to level the scores.

Jason Puncheon went on to have a shot beaten away by Marshall, before Zaha conjured up a wonder goal with 20 minutes left to play.

Not much appeared on when a corner was cleared to the Palace man but he controlled the ball skilfully, produced a superb bit of trickery to jink his way past two defenders, and capped his moment of genius with a thunderous shot which rocketed into the roof of the net.

However, Hull were inspired by this setback and levelled with a really well-taken goal of their own two minutes later, Diomande receiving from Harry Maguire and cleverly flicking the ball through Dann's legs as he turned, before dinking his shot over Hennessey.

Diomande almost doubled his tally moments later, Martin Kelly pulling off a vital block, but Hull were not to be denied for long.

Jake Livermore [78] exchanged passes with Snodgrass and then cruised into the heart of the Palace box, before slipping a clever shot into the corner of the net.

A fortnight after an agonising 5-4 loss at Swansea, Palace appeared set for another high-scoring away defeat, but Zaha had one more card left to play.

The man of the match skipped down the right and then sent over a delightful cross, which former Hull loanee Campbell nodded into the net at the near post, having been introduced from the bench with 10 minutes to play.

Despite four minutes of stoppage time, that was just about an end to the drama, and Hull head into a tough run of fixtures still in the drop zone but at least fresh from showing more punch in attack than in some matches of late.

Palace are three points clear of the drop zone and, while the concession of three more away goals will be a concern, they should have no relegation problems if Zaha can maintain such exhilarating form.

Player ratings:

Hull: Marshall (7), Elmohamady (6), Maguire (6), Davies (6), Dawson (6), Robertson (7), Livermore (7), Huddlestone (6), Clucas (6), Snodgrass (7), Diomande (7)

Subs: Henriksen (6)

Crystal Palace: Hennessey (7), Ward (6), Delaney (6), Dann (6), Kelly (6), Ledley (5), Puncheon (6), McArthur (6), Townsend (5), Zaha (9), Benteke (7)

Subs: Fryers (6), Cabaye (5), Campbell (7)

Player of the match: Wilfried Zaha