Dame N'Doye scored twice as Hull City ended a six-game winless streak by winning 2-0 away to Crystal Palace this afternoon.
Both sides cancelled each other out in a goalless first half that Hull dominated, with N'Doye among the culprits for their profligacy.
However, the Senegalese atoned for his first-half miss by opening the scoring early in the second half, before making sure of the win with a composed finish late on.
Here, Sports Mole analyses how the game was won at Selhurst Park.
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Match statistics
CRYSTAL PALACE
Shots: 7
On target: 3
Possession: 46%
Corners: 0
Fouls: 10
HULL CITY
Shots: 20
On target: 6
Possession: 54%
Corners: 9
Fouls: 14
Was the result fair?
Without a shadow of a doubt. Hull flashed their teeth for the first time in this relegation dogfight with a thoroughly deserved win. They dominated both halves and Crystal Palace can have no complaints, by virtue of the fact that they were perhaps slightly fortunate only to lose by two goals in the end. The above statistics paints an accurate picture of what went on at Selhurst Park today.
Crystal Palace's performance
Being 11th in the Premier League table and comfortably safe from relegation, there was little at stake for the Eagles this afternoon, and that lack of incentive was evident with a lacklustre performance against a side with five away wins from their last 60 in the Premier League.
The complexion of the first 45 minutes could have been far different for the hosts, however, with Glenn Murray spurning arguably the chance of the game inside just three minutes when his point-blank effort was kept out by Steve Harper.
Converting would have perhaps made for a very different half, but Hull dominated from that point on and Alan Pardew's side were fortunate not to trail by at least two goals heading into the break.
It was obvious that the second half would follow suit within a minute of the restart when Julian Speroni was forced to tip away N'Doye's back-post header, before the inevitable happened on 52 minutes when Martin Kelly allowed Brady to get the run on him and square for the unmarked Senegalese to tap home the opener.
From there, Pardew switched things up systematically to force an equaliser, with the likes of Arsenal loanee Yaya Sanogo and top goalscorer Dwight Gayle coming on, but the duo had little effect against a Hull defence determined to preserve their clean sheet. Sanogo did have a goal chalked off at 1-0, but replays showed that it was the correct decision following an infringement on Paul McShane.
Too many of Palace's key players looked relatively apathetic to the task of clawing their way back, with Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie particularly quiet, but motivation was always going to be a problem when Palace's season has been effectively over for a matter of weeks now.
Hull City's performance
Hull had a whole 14 days in which to recover from their 2-0 defeat to Southampton a fortnight ago due to Liverpool's involvement in the FA Cup last weekend, and that break looked to be just what Steve Bruce's side needed as they looked fully rested and brimming with zest at Selhust Park.
With a devilish end to the season ahead - including clashes with Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in their last five games - victory here was imperative to boost their chances of survival, with the visitors coming into the contest level on points with 18th-placed Leicester City, but they proved that they have the hunger for the fight.
They responded well to the threat of relegation by dominating the opening half, with Robbie Brady relentlessly delivering a host of exquisite crosses that raised pulses in Palace's box, while N'Doye and Jake Livermore both spurned glorious opportunities to open the scoring, with N'Doye's effort particularly poor.
Despite their dominance, the Tigers always looked vulnerable down the other end and Harper had to make a couple of saves to preserve parity. Still, Bruce will have been delighted by what he saw from his troops in a hugely encouraging first 45 minutes, but also a little worried that they had nothing to show for it.
Bruce watched his charges dominate the first half against Southampton a fortnight ago, before losing all momentum from the beginning of the second half onward and losing 2-0. They appeared to learn from their past mistakes, though, as Hull retained that momentum from the first half and took the lead within minutes of the restart. The brilliant Brady latched onto Sone Aluko's lofted ball on the left flank before passing inside to the unmarked N'Doye, who tapped home to atone for his earlier misses.
Refusing to rest on their laurels, they pushed forward in search of a second and had numerous chances with which to find one, but Palace's lethargy at the other end meant that the misses would not prove costly and N'Doye wrapped up the points with a composed finish late on. The Tigers' end-of-season fixtures remain as daunting as ever, but there is far less reason for concern now after this morale-boosting win.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Robbie Brady: Recalled to the first XI in place of Alex Bruce, the Republic of Ireland international vindicated Bruce's decision to start him with a superb performance. With his wand of a left foot, Brady fizzed in cross after cross and, crucially, provided the assist that led to N'Doye's opening goal.
Playing at left-wing back, he also got through his fair share of defensive work in an excellent all-round display. N'Doye will take the headlines, but Brady played a huge role in the win.
Biggest gaffe
With six goals in his last eight games, Murray is very much a striker in form, but the Palace man inexplicably failed to add to his haul of recent weeks when his point-blank effort was kept out by Harper after just six minutes this afternoon. It certainly should have been the opening goal, but Murray lacked the composure necessary to finish it.
Referee performance
Although Mark Clattenburg had no yellow cards to dish out throughout the 90 minutes, the Durham official did have a host of penalty appeals to contend with; most of which he called correctly. Had the result gone against Hull then Bruce will have undoubtedly flagged an incident in the first half, which saw Murray blatantly handball Ahmed Elmohamady's cross.
Clattenburg also incurred the wrath of Pardew for disallowing Sanogo's header in the final 10 minutes, but he looked to have made the right decision again as the Frenchman appeared to push McShane in the build-up.
What next?
Crystal Palace: Palace travel to Stamford Bridge knowing that Chelsea could already be Premier League champions by that stage.
Hull City: City get their game in hand out of the way on Tuesday by welcoming Liverpool to the KC Stadium.
Shane Callaghan
