- Date:2009-04-25
- Kick-off:15:00
- Venue:Kingston Communications Stadium
- Attendance:24942
- Referee:Atkinson, M
Live Commentary
90mins
Full-Time: HULL 1-3 LIVERPOOL. Liverpool return to the top of the table but were made to work hard for their victory.
90mins
Andrea Dossena replaces Dirk Kuyt.
89mins
HULL 1-3 LIVERPOOL. Alvaro Arbeloa's shot is saved by Boaz Myhill but KUYT is there to knock in the rebound.
88mins
Daniel Agger is on for Yossi Benayoun as Liverpool look to bolster their defence.
86mins
Fernando Torres is offside from Jamie Carragher's pass.
85mins
A Hull corner is punched against Yossi Benayoun by Jose Manuel Reina and then cleared as the Hull fans up the noise levels.
84mins
Javier Mascherano is replaced by Nabil El Zhar.
83mins
Deiberson Geovanni's free-kick is punched away by Jose Manuel Reina and cleared further away as Liverpool continue to look a little shaky.
82mins
Xabi Alonso flights a ball forward but it's claimed by Boaz Myhill.
80mins
Hull make their last change with Goncalves Manucho coming on for George Boateng.
79mins
Dirk Kuyt's cross is headed against the bar by Fernando Torres and comes out to safety.
78mins
Javier Mascherano tries a shot from 25 yards out which sails high over the bar.
76mins
Lucas Leiva can't make the most of a chance 10 yards out and Liverpool must build again.
75mins
The crowd are lifted as Hull look to claim an unlikely point.
73mins
HULL 1-2 LIVERPOOL. Bernard Mendy's crossfield ball finds Daniel Cousin and his cross is slotted past Jose Reina by GEOVANNI.
71mins
Deiberson Geovanni sends the free-kick into the wall and can't make the most of the follow-up.
70mins
Hull have a free-kick on the edge of the area after Deiberson Geovanni is blocked by Jamie Carragher.
68mins
Jose Manuel Reina flaps at a loose ball but Emiliano Insua is able to make the clearance.
66mins
Emiliano Insua's blistering volley flies over the bar.
65mins
The Hull fans are feeling very hard done by and the boos are ringing out around the stadium.
64mins
Alvaro Arbeloa is booked for a foul on Deiberson Geovanni.
63mins
HULL 0-2 LIVERPOOL. Hull fail to clear the corner and Dirk KUYT can't miss from four yards out.
62mins
A double change for Hull with Daniel Cousin and Bernard Mendy on for Craig Fagan and Nicky Barmby.
62mins
Xabi Alonso's cross is cleared behind for a corner by Kamil Zayatte.
61mins
Craig Fagan is booked for a poor tackle on Martin Skrtel as the game begins to boil over.
59mins
Caleb FOLAN is sent off for kicking out at Martin Skrtel after the Liverpool defender tries to shepherd the ball back to his keeper.
57mins
Dirk Kuyt's shot is blocked by a combination of Kamil Zayatte and Nicky Barmby.
55mins
Fernando Torres's effort loops over the bar.
53mins
Liverpool seem happy just to keep the ball and are slowing the pace of the game down.
51mins
Deiberson Geovanni scuffs his pass foward but finds Craig Fagan who is caught offside.
49mins
Hull must score and are being urged on by their fans.
47mins
Fernando Torres lets fly from 30 yards out but the ball is well wide of the goal.
46mins
The second half gets underway.
45mins
Nicky Barmby is booked for dissent as he leaves the pitch at half-time.
45mins
Half-Time: HULL 0-1 LIVERPOOL.
45mins
Jose Manuel Reina comes forward to claim a free-kick but gets nowhere near the ball and is saved by Martin Atkinson's whistle for a free-kick.
45mins
HULL 0-1 LIVERPOOL. Xabi ALONSO's free-kick is blocked but his follow-up flies into the bottom corner.
44mins
Dean Marney is booked after referee Martin Atkinson played the advantage but Javier Mascherano is again fouled and Liverpool have a free-kick.
42mins
Hull are continuing to pressure Liverpool in possession but they may not be able to keep up this pace in the second half.
40mins
A Liverpool corner causes chaos in the Hull defence but they eventually manage to clear.
39mins
Sam Ricketts's cross is just too far ahead of Caleb Folan and Nicky Barmby can't make a connection at the far post.
38mins
Kamil Zayatte does well to stop Fernando Torres's ball reaching Lucas Leiva.
37mins
Dirk Kuyt loses possession in the area after great work by Yossi Benayoun.
35mins
Emiliano Insua's free-kick is directed goalwards by Fernando Torres but the Hull defence clears.
34mins
Emiliano Insua's half-volley flies over the bar to the delight of the home crowd.
33mins
Dirk Kuyt's shot is deflected over the bar and Liverpool have a corner.
32mins
George Boateng's cross is not of the best quality after Caleb Folan forces Jose Manuel Reina into a rushed clearance.
30mins
Xabi Alonso's long ball forward trickles all the way through to Boaz Myhill.
28mins
Emiliano Insua's cross is headed away by George Boateng but Hull can't sustain the counterattack.
26mins
Lucas Leiva has a shot from the edge of the box but pulls it well wide.
25mins
Liverpool are starting to give the ball away in defence and all of a sudden look nervy.
24mins
Deiberson Geovanni's corner is cleared by Martin Skrtel but Hull maintain the pressure on Liverpool's goal.
23mins
Alvaro Arbeloa has conceded another corner under no pressure.
23mins
The corner is cleared off the line by Alvaro Arbeloa.
22mins
Deiberson Geovanni's free-kick is deflected behind by Alvaro Arbeloa for a corner.
21mins
Hull have coped well with Liverpool so far and look solid.
19mins
Nicky Barmby and George Boateng leave a cross to each other and another chance disappears.
18mins
Deiberson Geovanni's volley is narrowly wide of the left-hand post.
16mins
The Hull players are not allowing Liverpool any time on the ball, with Caleb Folan chasing everything.
15mins
The goal opens up for Dean Marney but he drags his shot wide.
14mins
Craig Fagan's cross is too close to Jose Manuel Reina and is easily caught.
13mins
Michael Turner flicks the ball towards goal but it's straight into the arms of Jose Manuel Reina.
12mins
Liverpool have settled into the game are controlling possession in the middle of the park.
10mins
Yossi Benayoun tries a curling shot which is just over the bar and Hull have a goal-kick.
8mins
Liverpool have a couple of corners in quick succession which are defended well by Hull.
7mins
Yossi Benayoun's effort is deflected towards Fernando Torres who almost has an open goal but Boaz Myhill recovers to make the save.
6mins
Caleb Folan takes the ball into the area but has no support and the attack breaks down.
5mins
Hul have started brightly but can't find a way through the Liverpool defence.
3mins
Deiberson Geovanni takes a free-kick which is easily cleared by Liverpool.
2mins
It's a fine spring day at a packed KC Stadium with both clubs needing the points for different reasons.
1mins
The game gets underway.
0mins
Liverpool make three changes, Daniel Agger, Fabio Aurelio and Allbert Riera are replaced by Martin Skrtel, Emiliano Insua and Lucas Leiva.
0mins
Hull start Nick Barmby and Caleb Folan in place of Andy Dawson and Manucho.
Match Preview
Hull City's first season in the top-flight of English football has turned from a dream into a nightmare, with the spectre of relegation now looming over the KC Stadium.
With that in mind, title-chasing Liverpool are probably one of the last sides that the Tigers want to be hosting.
The early months of the campaign saw Phil Brown's side famously win at both Arsenal and Tottenham, as well as drawing 2-2 against the Reds at Anfield in mid-December.
However, more recently City have slipped to within three points of the drop zone, having won only once in 17 league games and having lost to fellow strugglers Middlesbrough and Sunderland on their last two outings.
Brown remains upbeat about his side's prospects, however, saying: "People have already written us off against Liverpool, but there are still five games to go.
"We're not in the bottom three and if that continues between now and the end of the season, we'll be fine. That's obvious."
Record signing Jimmy Bullard's season was ended prematurely by a knee injury, but Brown has few other problems to contend with.
Liverpool head to Humberside looking to maintain the pressure on Manchester United, having dropped two valuable points in midweek in a thrilling 4-4 draw with Arsenal.
Rafa Benitez's side also drew 4-4 in their previous outing against Chelsea in the Champions League, with the Spaniard clearly worried by his team's defensive frailties.
He said after the Gunners clash: "It is really disappointing because we conceded four goals and normally we were not conceding these kind of goals.
"We made massive mistakes. It is difficult to explain because it was different players in different stages of the game.
"It is just four chances and four goals and all of them have been our mistakes."
Benitez will have his fingers crossed for a massive boost, with skipper Steven Gerrard hoping to feature despite not being 100 per cent fit due to a groin problem.
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Match Report
Despite a battling display, Hull City were condemned to their third straight league defeat as Liverpool went back to the top of the table with a 3-1 win at the KC Stadium.
Xabi Alonso opened the scoring on 45 minutes and after Tigers' frontman Caleb Folan saw red for violent conduct, the visitors were able to double their lead through Dirk Kuyt on the hour mark.
The home-side grabbed one back through Geovanni a few minutes later but the Reds sealed their 12th away win of the season with a late strike from Kuyt.
Geovanni tried his luck for the Hull midway through the first half, but the Brazilian's rasping half-volley from just outside the box floated narrowly wide of the post.
The visitors opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time. Referee Martin Atkinson awarded a dubious free-kick after George Boetang was adjudged to of brought down Javier Mascherano ten yards outside the Hull box.
Alonso fired in the set-piece which saw the ball deflect off the wall and land back at the feet of the Spain international, who hit a superb first-time effort into the bottom corner of the net to send his Liverpool side into the lead.
Hull were down to ten men on 58 minutes as Folan saw red for kicking out at Martin Skrtel as the pair chased the ball towards the Liverpool goal.
Rafa Benitez's men then doubled their lead as the Hull defence failed to clear a Yossi Benayoun cross, allowing Skrtel to flick the ball into Kuyt, who made no mistake from close range with a neat header through the legs of keeper Boaz Myhill and into the back of the net.
The home side grabbed one back on 73 minutes as substitute Daniel Cousin raced down the left to slip a ball across the box, into the path of an unmarked Geovanni, who gratefully stuck the ball into the back of the net from eight yards.
Liverpool came close to making it 3-1 moments later, as Kuyt played in a curling cross onto the head of Fernando Torres, but the Reds frontman saw his effort from close range come back off the Hull crossbar.
However, the visitors did seal the victory on 89 minutes as a deflected shot from Alvaro Arbeloa was palmed out by Myhill, but only into the path of Kuyt who sent the ball into the back of the net from eight yards to make it 3-1.
Hull City Team
Liverpool Team
Hull City | Liverpool |
Corners
| 3 | 8 |
Fouls
| 15 | 14 |
Goal attempts
| 7 | 21 |
Shots off target
| 2 | 12 |
Offsides
| 3 | 3 |
90mins
There are four minutes of added time.