Match ends, Blackburn Rovers 0, Hull City 2.
BlackburnBlackburn Rovers0HullHull City2
Hull City moved top of the Championship with victory at Blackburn Rovers, who are now winless in nine games.
After a goalless first half, Hull's Abel Hernandez rounded Jason Steele for his 16th league goal of the season.
Uruguay striker Hernandez then turned provider as he set up Mo Diame to double the advantage from close range.
Blackburn's best chances saw Elliott Ward's tame effort cleared off the line by Andy Robertson and Ben Marshall's fierce shot saved by Allan McGregor.
Steve Bruce's Tigers have now won five of their six league matches in 2016 and moved two points clear of Middlesbrough, who face Leeds at Elland Road on Monday.
Rovers have not won in the league since a 1-0 victory against Rotherham on 11 December.
Paul Lambert's men have scored just 25 goals this season, and having sold their top scorer Jordan Rhodes to Boro in the January transfer window, they once again lacked any fluency in the final third.
Chuba Akpom could have made the scoreline even more convincing for Hull, but fired just wide from distance in injury time, as Blackburn slipped to 19th in the table.
Blackburn manager Paul Lambert:
"In the first half there wasn't much in it. The disappointing thing for me is we had the ball twice and Hull have scored two goals.
"We secured possession and made wrong decisions, and they're a good side. The front two are a handful and they've still got a lot of Premier League players in their side.
"Today I thought once the second goal went in, we looked far short. You can't play the way we did last week and then turn in that performance.
"It will drive you mad. We have to find consistency quickly, really quickly."
Hull manager Steve Bruce:
"We've missed two or three chances late on which could have improved our goal difference but we thoroughly deserved the win in my opinion.
"I thought we were playing within ourselves in the first half and I wanted us to go and express ourselves and take the shackles off.
"We knew we had more in the tank and I thought in the second half we gave a very good performance where we could have scored three or four.
"That's as good as we've played for a long time."
Line-ups
Blackburn
Formation 4-3-1-2
- 30Steele
- 10Marshall
- 22Duffy
- 15Ward
- 3Spurr
- 26Lenihan
- 29Evans
- 14Gomez Garcia-Penche
- 32Conway
- 8WattSubstituted forBrownat 56'minutes
- 35JacksonSubstituted forBennettat 74'minutes
Substitutes
- 2Henley
- 4Kilgallon
- 9Brown
- 19Taylor
- 31Bennett
- 33Raya
Hull
Formation 4-4-1-1
- 1McGregor
- 2Odubajo
- 21Dawson
- 6Davies
- 26Robertson
- 10SnodgrassSubstituted forEl Mohamadyat 81'minutes
- 14Livermore
- 8Huddlestone
- 11Clucas
- 17DiaméSubstituted forMeylerat 86'minutes
- 9HernándezSubstituted forAkpomat 76'minutes
Substitutes
- 7Meyler
- 12Maguire
- 16Jakupovic
- 19Akpom
- 20Hayden
- 25Diomande
- 27El Mohamady
- Referee:
- Oliver Langford
- Attendance:
- 13,902
Match Stats
Home TeamBlackburnAway TeamHull
- Possession
- Home55%
- Away45%
- Shots
- Home15
- Away14
- Shots on Target
- Home5
- Away4
- Corners
- Home7
- Away2
- Fouls
- Home9
- Away11
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Blackburn Rovers 0, Hull City 2.
Post update
Attempt missed. Chuba Akpom (Hull City) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
Post update
Attempt missed. Craig Conway (Blackburn Rovers) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left.
Substitution
Substitution, Hull City. David Meyler replaces Mohamed Diamé.
Post update
Attempt saved. Corry Evans (Blackburn Rovers) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Post update
Elliott Ward (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Tom Huddlestone (Hull City).
Post update
Jordi Gómez (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Curtis Davies (Hull City).
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Foul by Craig Conway (Blackburn Rovers).
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Ahmed Elmohamady (Hull City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution
Substitution, Hull City. Ahmed Elmohamady replaces Robert Snodgrass.
Post update
Attempt saved. Ben Marshall (Blackburn Rovers) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jordi Gómez.
Post update
Corner, Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Sam Clucas.
Post update
Attempt saved. Chuba Akpom (Hull City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Andrew Robertson.
Post update
Corner, Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Andrew Robertson.
Post update
Foul by Corry Evans (Blackburn Rovers).
Post update
Chuba Akpom (Hull City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution
Substitution, Hull City. Chuba Akpom replaces Abel Hernández.
