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Post by Premier League News on Feb 21, 2015 17:31:40 GMT
Hull City 2 - 1 Queens Park RangersHull City: Nikica Jelavic 16, Dame N'Doye 89
QPR: Charlie Austin 39Dame N’Doye scored his second goal in as many Premier League starts to make Queens Park Rangers pay for Joey Barton’s ninth career red card.The Senegal striker N’Doye, a January signing from Lokomotiv Moscow, headed in Robbie Brady’s 89th-minute cross to seal back-to-back wins for Steve Bruce’s team seconds after being denied by a point-blank save from Rob Green. Barton, the visitors’ captain, was dismissed in the first half for striking Tom Huddlestone in the nether regions after play broke down for a Hull free-kick. But, having broken a sequence of 11 consecutive top-flight defeats at Sunderland in their last outing, QPR dealt with the handicap of playing for an hour with 10 men only to surrender a point at the death. Hull went ahead just after the quarter hour through an opportunistic volley from Nikica Jelavic: Huddlestone’s raking free-kick was not dealt with by Steven Caulker and the Croatian striker anticipated a poor clearing header to leave Green helpless from near the penalty spot. The portents for victory appeared good for Hull given Jelavic’s record of scoring in each of their last four Premier League successes and appeared to improve further when Barton lost his cool in the aftermath of the debutant Darnell Furlong’s late challenge on Jelavic. Having pushed Alex Bruce, he then swung a low blow at Huddlestone right under the nose of the referee, Anthony Taylor. It left the official with no option but to dismiss the QPR captain. Not that it diminished their threat thereafter. In fact, the visitors improved as an attacking force once numerically disadvantaged and claimed an equaliser through a typically clinical finish from Charlie Austin. Furlong, whose over-zealous lunge at Jelavic belied an otherwise assured display, was involved in a purposeful build-up that resulted in Matt Phillips arcing his cross to the back post where Austin emerged between Bruce and Michael Dawson to head in. The ‘hobbling’ celebration that followed was a reminder of what Hull could have had - Austin agreed to a £4.5m move to the KC Stadium in July 2013 only for the Yorkshire club to pull out of the deal due to concerns over his knee post-medical. The goal gave Rangers something to cling to in their first outing since Chris Ramsey’s appointment until the end of the season, and they reached the interval on level terms after Paul McShane failed to seize on Green’s spilling of a Brady free-kick. Huddlestone also drove agonisingly wide in first-half injury time. However, not until the final throes when Hull had four strikers on the field was Green required to make a serious save and his reaction stop to deny N’Doye after the substitute Abel Hernández flicked on appeared to have foiled the hosts. By Richard Gibson, Guardian
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