Leeds 2 Hull C 3: Tigers heighten midweek woe for threadbare Leeds

Goals from Ahmed Elmohamady, Abdoulaye Faye and Robert Koren were enough to seal a first win for the Tigers at Elland Road since September, 1987.

More importantly, the victory sent Hull to within a point of the summit of the Championship, Steve Bruce’s side being one of four locked on 13 points this morning, but sitting fourth on goal difference.

At the final whistle, the visiting fans rose to salute their heroes in a similar fashion to how the 19,750 crowd – the lowest for a fixture between these two sides at Elland Road in almost a quarter of a century – had welcomed Gale and 13 of his fellow Yorkshire promotion heroes onto the pitch at half-time.

It was a deserved reception for a Hull side who, courtesy of last night’s victory, now boast the club’s best start to a season in 19 years.

For Leeds, the defeat continued a wretched record in midweek games that has yielded just three wins in 21 league outings.

In that run, which stretches back to the start of the 2010-11 campaign, United have been hit for six by Preston, seven by Nottingham Forest and five against Blackpool.

Last night’s defeat was not on the scale of those hidings but, nevertheless, there could be little doubt that the Tigers were full value for the points.

The worry for Neil Warnock must be that just a handful of injuries have left his squad looking decidedly threadbare.

With Luciano Becchio also being forced out of the action after falling awkwardly just after the hour, those resources could be depleted further come the weekend visit of Nottingham Forest.

Bruce, meanwhile, can look forward with confidence to Sunday’s trip to Leicester City.

He had made his intentions clear last night by sending out the same attack-minded 3-5-2 formation that had made such light work of Bolton Wanderers and Millwall in Hull’s previous two games.

Once again, Elmohamady and Joe Dudgeon were given licence to roam down their respective flanks and the tactic paid dividends handsomely.

Not only did Hull’s equaliser come via the trusty right boot of Elmohamady but the Egyptian also provided the dipping cross that Faye finished with such aplomb to put the visitors ahead just before the half-hour mark.

The Tigers will be the first to admit that they had an element of good fortune during the build-up to the equaliser as Michael Tonge and Aidy White got in each other’s way and the ball squirmed to the unmarked Elmohamady who beat Paddy Kenny with a drilled shot.

But bearing in mind the controversy surrounding United’s opener, Hull deserved their break.

Certainly, the contact made by Joe Dudgeon on El Hadji-Diouf inside the area was so minimal that referee Roger East saw nothing wrong.

Linesman Simeon Lucas, however, flagged for a foul and after a lengthy consultation between the two officials, East pointed to the spot. Becchio duly dispatched the penalty past Ben Amos to leave Hull fuming.

The visitors’ night came close to taking another bad turn when Rodolph Austin was denied twice in succession by a combination of Faye and Amos.

But then Elmohamady’s strike settled Hull nerves in the 23rd minute before the Egyptian provided the cross for Faye to power a header past Kenny.

After that, the Tigers took control as Sone Aluko broke quickly and looked to be through on goal before being fouled by Jason Pearce. The Leeds captain was booked but Robert Koren almost made him pay with a curled free-kick that Kenny saved brilliantly at the foot of the post.

United improved after the break with Austin doing his best to drive his team-mates forward from central midfield. The Jamaican went close with a couple of long-range efforts, while substitute Dominic Poleon brought a save from Amos.

But Hull always looked the more likely to grab the game’s fourth goal and it duly arrived 14 minutes from time courtesy of a sweeping counter attack.

Jay Simpson started the move with a fine pass out to Corry Evans, who in turn released Elmohamady on the overlap down the right. The Egyptian raced forward before rolling a pass for Koren to fire into the net and effectively settle the game.

There was still time for Andy Gray to head past Amos in the second of the five minutes of stoppage time decreed by referee East.

However, in truth, there was little prospect of the Tigers being denied a win that ensured their fans headed back along the M62 dreaming of a promotion push.

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Leeds United: Kenny; Peltier, Lees, Pearce, White; Byram, Austin, Tonge, Varney (Gray 84); Becchio (Poleon 61), Diouf. Unused substitutes: Ashdown, Kisnorbo, Pugh, Brown, Thompson.

Hull City: Amos; Chester, Faye, Bruce; Elmohamady, Evans, Koren (Rosenior 88), Quinn, Dudgeon; Aluko, Simpson (Mclean 89). Unused substitutes: Oxley, Dawson, McShane, Devitt, Proschwitz.

Referee: R East (Wiltshire).