FT: Swansea City 3-1 Hull City - Nowhere near good enough, blasts Bruce

A double by Bafetimbi Gomis and an opportunistic strike from Wayne Routledge were enough to ensure the Tigers’ wait for a first away win in 2015 goes on.

Paul McShane did pull a goal back just after half-time but Meyler’s dismissal for a reckless lunge at Kyle Naughton a few minutes later meant it was always going to be an uphill task.

Abel Hernandez did have one good chance but completely missed his kick to leave City sweating ahead of Burnley and Sunderland being in action tomorrow.

QPR’s surprise win at West Bromwich Albion was also a blow, with the only positive for Steve Bruce being the return to action of Mo Diame after four months out with a knee injury.

“We were nowhere near good enough in the first half but two big decisions have gone against us,” said Steve Bruce.

“Gomis’ goal is a fantastic piece of individual skill but he is five yards offside.

“When the ball comes back into the box we’ve had a collision between two of our players because they are worried about Gomis’ whereabouts.”

On Meyler’s red card, he added: “I’m sure half of you press lads will say it’s harsh and the other half will say it deserves a red card,” Bruce said.

“I’ve now seen it six times from three angles and three of them I think it’s a perfectly decent challenge and the other three he takes part of the ball but his leg collides with the player.

“The referee’s given the decision by what he sees, and from his angle he might see it as reckless, but you may as well say in these grey areas you’re not allowed to tackle on the floor.

“We all want our team to fight and compete because that’s what the Premier League is, and I’m ranting and raving at my team at half-time to make sure there are a few challenges and we make a fist of it.

“We did that in the second half, we showed far more urgency but you don’t usually get something out of a game when you go down to 10 men.”

After a start to the game that had seen neither side do a lot but stroke the ball round prettily, Hull’s tendency to make things hard for themselves on the road returned.

A loose pass from David Meyler was the first problem, as possession was gifted to Gylfi Sigurdsson. He, in turn, found Wayne Routledge and although the move eventually broke down, just 30 or so seconds later the Swans were ahead.

Allan McGregor’s inability to hold a routine shot from Jonjo Shelvey was the cause, the Scot managing only to palm the ball into the path of Ki Sung-Yueng and he did the rest from eight yards.

It was a poor way to go behind but City rarely looked like making amends in the first half, their only on target effort being a lame shot from Abel Hernandez that bounced twice before Lukasz Fabianksi made a routine stop.

Instead, Swansea were able to double their advantage and, once again, Hull were culpable.

In trying to clear the danger, Alex Bruce and Robbie Brady got in each other’s way to present a chance to Gomis that the striker took with glee eight minutes before the break.

Matters almost went from bad to worse before the break, as Gomis had a great chance to play in Routledge only to make a total hash of the pass.

Bruce clearly had plenty to say during the interval, and the upshot was Hull coming out much more fired up.

Paul McShane pulled a goal back six minutes after the restart when he swept in from close range after Alex Bruce had flicked a Brady free-kick into his direction.

Michael Dawson then went close before Bruce saw a shot saved by Fabianski. Just as City threatened a comeback, however, Meyler was red carded for a challenge on Kyle Naughton that left the former Sheffield United full-back unable to continue.

Hull did continue to press and Abel Hernandez should have converted a cross from Dame N’Doye on the hour.

Swansea, however, made the game safe in stoppage time when Gomis took advantage of City piling forward to run unimpeded from his own half to collect a Gylfi Sigurdsson pass before dinking the ball over the exposed McGregor.