Leeds United lose home record to Hull

Luciano Becchio gave the Whites a dream start when converting a controversial seventh minute penalty after El Hadji Diouf had been brought down by Joe Dudgeon on the edge of the box, but the game was turned on its head by two Hull goals in six minutes in the first half and the visitors went on to win 3-2 to end their 25-year wait for a victory at the ground.

Leeds started brightly and could have been further in front in the first 10 minutes as Becchio saw a header blocked after he was picked out by a Diouf cross and Rodolph Austin’s shot in the area was saved low down by keeper Ben Amos.

But Hull settled to play the more controlled football and went ahead with their first shot as a defensive mix-up between Michael Tonge and Jason Pearce presented the ball to Ahmed Elmohamady on the edge of the box and he rifled a smart shot past Paddy Kenny for the equaliser.

It was soon 2-1 when Tom Lees mistimed his defensive leap, allowing Abdoulaye Faye to sneak in behind him to head the ball into the net.

United struggled to put anything of note together for the rest of the half and were kept in the game by Kenny’s save low down from Robert Koren’s free-kick.

The hosts improved after the break as Varney headed a half chance wide and Austin brought a save out of Amos with a shot from distance.

Hull threatened with Jay Simpson and Sone Aluko both going close, but were pushed back when Leeds boss Neil Warnock threw on Dominic Poleon for the injured Becchio and the youngster added some pace to the home attack.

Poleon almost produced a quick goal when he turned away from one defender, sped away from another and jinked his way into the box only for his shot to be saved by Amos. Austin also got in a header and another shot from range that was not far off target.

However, United were caught by a sucker punch on 76 minutes when the visitors produced a lightning break from a Leeds corner and Koren was left with a tap-in to make it 3-1.

It was uphill from then on although Tonge had a shot from the edge of the box saved and Poleon cut in from the left wing to fire a shot wide.

In the second minute of injury-time United gave themselves late hope when substitute Andy Gray headed home from a free-kick.

Hull now resorted to time wasting, but hung on with Leeds’ last chance wasted when Lee Peltier blasted a 20-yard shot just over.

Match facts

Leeds United 2

(Becchio 7, pen, Gray 90)

Hull City 3

(Elmohamady 23, Faye 29, Koren 76)

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Npower Championship

Att: 19,750

Leeds: Kenny, Peltier, Lees, Pearce, White, Byram, Austin, Tonge, Varney (Gray 84), Diouf, Becchio (Poleon 61).

Hull: Amos, Chester, Bruce, Faye, Elmohamady, Koren (Rosenior 88), Evans, Quinn, Dudgeon, Aluko, Simpson (McLean 89).

Referee: Roger East