West Brom twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw against Hull City at the KC Stadium on Saturday.
All square at the KC Stadium after four-goal thriller
West Brom twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw against Hull City at the KC Stadium on Saturday.
The Tigers dominated the first half proceedings a went into the break a goal ahead after Bernard Mendy latched onto captain Ian Ashbee's volleyed punt over the top and the Frenchman easily rounded Albion keeper Scott Carson, before slotting the ball home.
West Brom came back at their opponents with what was there first real chance and on-loan Jay Simpson made no mistake after being teed up by James Morrison in the penalty area.
The Tigers edged ahead however through lone striker Craig Fagan when he scored a fantastic diving header from Mendy's sublime cross.
It was not to be enough for Hull though as the Baggies levelled the match up again - Chris Brunt scored from the penalty spot after Robert Koren was brought down in the box by Kamil Zayatte.
The result ends Hull's barren run of six defeats in a row, while West Brom stay bottom.
Yet the hosts will feel they could have had more with West Brom goalkeeper Scott Carson producing a number of good saves in the second half.
Bullard blow
The Tigers had suffered a blow prior to kick-off after recent £5million record signing Jimmy Bullard was ruled out.
Bullard made his debut off the bench in the midweek loss at West Ham but suffered discomfort in his knee afterwards and striker Daniel Cousin was also ruled out with a knee problem.
As a result, manager Phil Brown appeared to opt for a cautious line-up with on-loan forward Manucho and Brazilian Geovanni on the bench.
Yet the recalled Mendy and Fagan were clearly determined to impress and their attacking industry allowed Hull to dominate the first half.
The Baggies struggled to gain meaningful possession and Hull asserted themselves from early on with Mendy creating a shooting opportunity for Dean Marney after a poor clearance by Carson.
Marney's effort was a tame one and Andy Dawson shot straight at Carson after the ball came back out.
Mendy then skipped through a challenge to get another sight of goal but his attempt was blocked.
West Brom's first opportunity came on the counter-attack but James Morrison shot well wide.
A good ball by Mendy sent Richard Garcia running into the box but Ryan Donk cut out his pass for Fagan.
Hull decided to utilise the long-throwing ability of Sam Ricketts and one of his deliveries caused panic in the West Brom box but Fagan was unable to control.
Garcia appealed for a penalty after his cross appeared to catch the hand of Donk but referee Peter Walton was uninterested.
West Brom then struggled to clear after Carson missed a Dawson cross that held up in the wind but Marney shot straight at a defender.
Simpson had a good chance for West Brom but volleyed over after Marc-Antoine Fortune had chested down Brunt's cross.
Garcia squandered a glorious opportunity on the half-hour when he got on the end of a superb Kevin Kilbane cross but headed over from six yards.
Another Ricketts throw forced Carson to scramble back and palm over his own bar after catching the head of Brunt.
Hull took the lead just before the interval with a fine individual goal from Mendy.
Opener
The pacy Frenchman broke clear of Paul Robinson after a long ball from Ian Ashbee and coolly rounded Carson to tap home.
Hull were unlucky not to double their advantage early in the second half as Carson produced three fine saves.
Marney first brought the former Liverpool keeper into action with a fierce drive from 20 yards after a lay-off by Fagan and Mendy put the rebound wide.
Carson was again busy as Kilbane fired in another shot from the edge of the area and Garcia's follow-up effort was deflected for a corner.
Marney's subsequent delivery found the head of the dangeorus Michael Turner but Carson was again equal to it.
West Brom then rewarded Carson for his efforts with an equaliser against the run of play after 53 minutes.
Morrison jinked his way into the box with a tricky run and on-loan Arsenal youngster Simpson tucked home left-footed from in front of goal.
Brunt had another shot for West Brom but Matt Duke was not tested. Hull regained the lead in the 69th minute after more superb work from Mendy.
The Frenchman again found good space down the right and delivered a perfect cross for Fagan to head past Carson.
But Hull's lead was again short-lived as Fortune broke through three minutes later and forced Duke to save.
Robert Koren raced onto the loose ball and was brought down by Kamil Zayatte for a penalty.
Duke, who kept out a spot-kick in the Upton Park loss, could not repeat the trick as Brunt struck to level again.
Hull produced a good response with Ashbee hitting a sweetly-struck shot from distance but again Carson was firm.
West Brom substitute Pele, the Portuguese defender, had a late chance to snatch victory but shot over.
| Hull City |
Team Statistics |
West Bromwich Albion |
| 2 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 8 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 6 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 8 |
Corners |
6 |
| 14 |
Fouls |
12 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
4 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 63.6 |
Passing Success |
60.5 |
| 20 |
Tackles |
20 |
| 70 |
Tackles Success |
80 |
| 50.3 |
Possession |
49.7 |
| 58.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
41.3 |
|
