Tigers add to Toffees’ misery

HULL held off an Everton fightback to continue their recent resurgence with a remarkable win at the KC Stadium last night.

The struggling Tigers raced into a 3-0 lead with goals from Stephen Hunt, Andy Dawson and Dean Marney inside the opening half-hour of a thrilling Premier League clash.

But Kamil Zayatte gifted Everton a route back and then conceded a penalty which Louis Saha converted. Everton pressed in a nervous finale but Hull held on to go level with David Moyes’ side.

Moyes said: “The performance was shocking and we all take responsibility for it. I’ve seen a few poor performances since I’ve been here but that will be up there with the worst of them.

“It is up to the players to take responsibility but I take responsibility for the players I select. “We could be dragged into a relegation fight.”

It made for a miserable night for the Toffees as news filtered through their plans for a new stadium were rejected by the British government.

Hull set the tone for the first half as they took a ninth-minute lead when the alert Hunt was the first to react to a breaking ball, racing in to blast home his third of the season from six yards.

Hull doubled their advantage on 20 minutes after Yobo fouled Zayatte on the edge of the area. Left-back Dawson stepped up to curl a superb free-kick over the wall into the top corner.

The Toffees, who were caught out by another Hull break just before the half-hour. Baines failed to stop the rampant Hunt crossing from the right and the first of two deflections diverted the ball into Marney’s path. The midfielder struck his shot first time but Howard was wrong-footed as the ball flew in off Tim Cahill.

The tone of the game changed on 49 minutes as Everton were gifted a goal back. Zayatte this time sliced John Heitinga’s cross and the ball spun over Matt Duke into the Hull goal.

Everton claimed a crucial penalty after 64 minutes when Zayatte was again the guilty party with a clumsy challenge on Saha and the Frenchman stepped up to convert from the spot.

HULL: Duke, McShane, Gardner, Zayatte, Dawson, Garcia (Barmby, 78), Marney, Boateng, Hunt, Geovanni (Kilbane, 87), Altidore (Vennegoor of Hesselink, 75).

EVERTON: Howard, Neill, Yobo, Distin, Baines, Cahill, Rodwell (Jo, 60), Heitinga, Pienaar, Saha, Yakubu (Gosling, 46).

Referee: Martin Atkinson.