Hull City 2 Watford 0: Ten-man hosts claim priceless win in relegation fight

Down to ten men early on, against a mid-table side, this was the day when Marco Silva’s stunning home run as Hull City manager could have crumbled. Instead, it became arguably the most impressive of all victories at this ground since the Portuguese started master-minding their fight against relegation. 

Hull were a man light but Lazar Markovic and Sam Clucas both delivered the decisive second-half blows as a lethargic Watford were knocked aside. Silva now has six home wins from seven in the league since taking charge, with the other ending in a draw, and his side remain outside the relegation zone. 

Seething from the injustice of Oumar Niasse’s hugely controversial red card midway through the first half, which they will appeal against, Hull showed guts and focus. With Swansea City - one place and two points behind Hull - also winning, it was timely.  

The result also took some heat off referee Bobby Madley, who dismissed Niasse after an innocuous challenge on M’Baye Niang. It was one-footed, with minimal impact on the shin of Niang - but the Watford winger, on loan from AC Milan, reacted dramatically. Niasse was left wide-eyed in shock at the sight of a red card while Silva, normally calm, ranted to the fourth official.

Referee Madley had walked into the tunnel at half-time with fans angrily pointing and shouting at him. The emotions in the stadium were, however, soon to change dramatically. The mood was rapturous when Markovic finished off a quick counter-attack to put them ahead and the crowd was then left stunned as Clucas added another goal with a sumptuous strike.

“It was important that we believed,” said Silva. “During the match, my feeling was more that it was a yellow card. Niasse said to me that he didn’t touch the player.  

“I don’t say that Niang did or did not influence the referee but I haven’t seen it since. The referees need to make the decisions based on what they see.”

Watford manager Walter Mazzarri had said before the game that he knew it would be hard for his team - already on 40 points - to be motivated. They responded by crashing to a fourth away defeat in a row without scoring and they lacked fighting spirit. 

“We made silly mistakes,” said the Watford boss. “It’s one of those games that, if we didn’t win, we should have drawn and this makes me really angry.” 

Hull had made a nervous start and were already showing frustration at the officials, before the red card, with midfielder Ahmed Elmohamady sarcastically making a glasses gesture at one stage. 

Hull’s complaints did not help them as they soon suffered the harsh sending off. They hung on to half-time, with Watford twice coming close with headers from corners. Just before the break, the home team also had a penalty appeal turned down when Kamil Grosicki appeared to be caught by Nordin Amrabat. 

Everything changed after the break. Silva brought on Abel Hernandez for Evandro at half-time - meaning there was a new focal point going forward and a way to stretch Watford - and Hull also battled hard to stay level. Goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic came to the rescue, saving with his feet to deny Troy Deeney.  

A breakthrough goal eventually came as Grosicki burst forward and crossed from the right flank for Markovic, who headed against the bar. The ball bounced down - and it was unclear if it had crossed the line - but Markovic raced forward and struck it in to make sure. Rather than sit back, confident Hull pushed forward and Clucas smashed into the top right-hand corner from 30 yards.