Hull win to move clear in fourth but Assem Allam faces pressure
Hull strengthened their grip on fourth place in the Sky Bet Championship table with a 2-0 home win over Brentford as fans called for owner Assem Allam to quit the KC Stadium club.
Before the game a large section of Hull fans had held up red cards and chanted for Allam to leave, the owner adding to his unpopularity by introducing a membership scheme for next season after unsuccessfully trying to change the team's name to Hull Tigers.
On the pitch a Harlee Dean own goal and Mo Diame's bundled finish, both in the first half, secured the points for Hull with the visitors remaining 10th in the table following a defeat where they rarely threatened the Hull goal.
Hull manager Steve Bruce had made seven changes to the side that drew 2-2 at home to Leeds on Saturday, a result which meant they could no longer be promoted to the Premier League automatically.
Brentford head coach Dean Smith made three changes and one of those recalled was the first to show any real threat with nearly 10 minutes gone, but Marco Djuricin ran to the edge of the area before pulling his shot wide of the target.
Andy Robertson forced Brentford keeper David Button to dive to his left to gather a shot from outside the area as Hull slowly increased the tempo.
The game was half an hour old when Hull took the lead, Robertson racing on to a long cross-field ball from Harry Maguire wide on the left before firing in a low cross which Dean could only steer into his own net.
Adama Diomande forced Button into a save from a tight angle as Hull finished the half on top and from the resulting corner Alex Bruce went down when his shirt was pulled, referee Darren Bond pointing to the spot.
But the keeper was equal to Diomande's under-hit spot kick, Button diving to his right to beat the ball away eight minutes before the break.
Robertson was unlucky when put through by Diomande as his rising shot came back off the bar as Hull looked to build on their lead.
They did so in stoppage time when Maguire played a one-two down the right with Ahmed Elmohamady and raced forward before squaring the ball into the path of Diame. His first effort from close range came back off Button but he bundled the loose ball over the line.
The second half took longer to get going than the first, the home side going close when Robertson's run and shot forced a corner from which Maguire headed wide of the far post.
A Sam Clucas free-kick was held by Button diving to his right as Hull searched for the third goal to kill the game off.
Hull resorted to playing keep-ball and when Brentford were drawn out of defence, substitute Chuba Akpom got down the left and forced a corner from which man of the match Maguire just failed to get his head to the ball.
Akpom headed wide from an Elmohamady cross and Brentford's Sam Saunders hit a free-kick narrowly wide in the last action of a forgettable game as disgruntled fans again called for the owner to sell up.
Source: PA
