Hull City 1 Millwall 3: Problems at both ends as Tigers fall to inexplicable defeat
Hull City lost 3-1 on Saturday. Quite how is hard to fathom.
Poor finishing, bad luck, questionable refereeing, dreadful defending and a lack of concentration at a set piece all contributed to a Millwall win that was about as smash and grab as they come.
Every goal the Lions score was a kick in the proverbials, and a punishment for the ones the Tigers did not.
When Josh Coburn's hit the back of the net in the 78th minute there were a few boos, but plenty just headed for the exits, sick of what they had seen.
It would not have been so galling had their team not been so good at many aspects of the game.
They bossed the opening quarter of an hour, Oli McBurnie heading wide and Kyle Joseph seeing a ball across deflect behind for a corner hit straight at the first man.
Recalled to the side as Sergej Jakirovic switched to a back four, Joseph become the first of two Tigers players to thump a header against the crossbar in the 12th minute.
So it was a real sucker punch when Hull went behind in the 14th minute. Little did we know, it was just the beginning.
Jakirovic was unhappy when a free-kick was given against his side and it was played deep for Tristan Crama to head across. Jake Cooper held John Lundstram off and volleyed against the bar but the difference was it bounced down behind the line.
Hull quickly put it right, Joseph drifting in off the right again and collecting an errant ball from Billy Mitchell. He picked out Joe Gelhardt, who kept his cool and emphatically finished for only his second goal since picking up a calf injury in early December.
They pushed for another, Cody Drameh easily beating Mitchell only to lash the ball way off target.
When Semi Ajayi, on his first appearance since the Africa Cup of Nations, gave the ball away to Tommy Watson, Drameh did well to track his man to the centre-spot and slide in to win the ball.
Gelhardt made space to shoot in the 28th minute only for a defender to throw himself in the line of fire.
Hull thought they had taken the lead after a scrappy bit of play on the half hour. Regan Slater put the ball in, Lundstram's shot was blocked by Zak Sturge McBurnie appealed in vain for a penalty, Slater had a shot and when Joseph touched the rebound in, David Webb blew for a foul on goalkeeper Anthony Patterson which he simply imagined.
The best player of the first half, Joseph kept coming back for more, outmuscling Surge only to see Patterson just beat McBurnie to the low ball in.
Hacking down Joseph was the only way Millwall could cope with him, and when Watson was booked for doing so, Charlie Hughes headed Slater's free-kick against the bar.
It was no great shock that neither Watson - a late replacement for Casper De Norre - nor Struge reappeared for the second half. By then, Ajayi had lifted a ball over and a stretching Slater forced a save.
The game restarted in the same vein, McBurnie's delicate header diverting a Liam Millar cross the wrong side of the far post, Slater only stabbing at a pull-back and anyway directing it straight at the goalkeeper. Gelhardt's dangerous ball in was cut out.
So Hull were asking for it, really, and it came in the 70th minute.
Femi Azeez's low cross was nothing to write about but Ivor Pandur allowed it to bobble across his dive and no one had followed substitute Mihailo Ivanovic to stop him tapping in at the back post.
If that was bad enough, Coburn's goal eight minutes later put the tin lid on it.
Ajayi pass across the back was wayward and Hughes stood well off the former Middlesbrough striker, who finished smartly.
Hull have kept one clean sheet in their last seven games, but the problems were at both ends on Saturday.
A Gelhardt cross over the six-yard box in the 90th minute was begging for a touch, but all Hull could muster was a blocked Lewis Koumas shot when the ball came out to him.
With Southampton closing in, Hull's play-off place will be at threat if they do not get to grips with some basics.
Hull City: Pandur; Drameh, Ajayi, Hughes, Coyle (McCarthy 90); Slater (Collyer 90), Lundstram (Hadziahmetovic 71); Joseph (Koumas 71), Gelhardt, Millar (Dowell 78); McBurnie.
Unused substitutes: Matazo, Phillips, Egan, McNair.
Millwall: Patterson; McNamara, Crama, Cooper, Sturge (Doughty HT (Ivanovic 62)); Mitchell; Azeez, Neghli, Langstaff (Ballo 83), Watson (Cundle HT); Coburn (Smallbone 83).
Unused substitutes: Bangura-Williams, Crocombe, Mazou-Sacko, Bannan.
Referee: D Webb (County Durham).