Hernandez treble fires Hull’s promotion push
Hull boosted their push for promotion to the Premier League as Abel
Hernandez hit a hat-trick in Saturday’s 6-0 demolition of Championship
strugglers Charlton.
Steve Bruce’s side moved within two points of second tier leaders
Middlesbrough, who were beaten 1-0 by lowly Bristol City, thanks to
Uruguay forward Hernandez’s first half heroics at the KC Stadium.
The Tigers are now four points clear of third placed Derby as they
bid to win a quick return to the top-flight following last season’s
relegation.
Charlton, who were routed 5-0 at Huddersfield in midweek, were 4-0
down at half-time, with Robert Snodgrass adding to Hernandez’s treble.
Jose Riga’s first game in charge of his second spell at Charlton went
from bad to worse after the break as Mohamed Diame added a fifth and
on-loan Arsenal youngster Isaac Hayden sealed the points with 10 minutes
to go.
“I’ve got a squad which is very good and playing for each other.
We’ve got a long way to go but at the moment we’re playing very well,”
Bruce said.
“Some of the goals we scored and some of the football we played meant Charlton found it very difficult against us.”
Middlesbrough’s surprise defeat at Bristol City was settled deep into
stoppage-time when Wes Burns’ glancing header improved the managerless
hosts’ chances of avoiding relegation.
“We didn’t deserve to win because we didn’t play in our usual way and
our key players did not perform as they can,” Middlesbrough boss Aitor
Karanka said.
“People were expecting an easy win for us, but the Championship is not like that.”
Derby lost ground on the top two as Paul Robinson’s strike, Stephen
Gleeson’s superb curling effort and Maikel Kieftenbeld’s 25-yard volley
earned visiting Birmingham a comfortable 3-0 victory at the iPro
Stadium.
Fifth placed Brighton’s goal drought ended at Blackburn as Bobby
Zamora’s sixth goal of the season in the third minute was enough to
claim maximum points.
Gary Hooper’s quick-fire double secured Sheffield Wednesday a 2-0 win
against Leeds and lifted the hosts into the play-off places.
Hooper, on loan from Norwich scored twice in three minutes early in
the second half before Leeds had a 78th-minute effort from Liam Cooper
controversially disallowed by referee Anthony Taylor because the Owls
had not completed Fernando Forestieri’s substitution.
Craig Noone bagged a first-half brace as Cardiff claimed a 3-1 win at Wolves to relieve the pressure on manager Russell Slade.
Bottom of the table Bolton had goalkeeper Ben Amos sent off after
just 11 minutes of their clash at Nottingham Forest and the hosts took
full advantage as they swept to a 3-0 win.
Goals from Junior Hoilett, Matt Phillips and Sebastian Polter eased
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to his first win since taking charge of QPR as
the west Londoners defeated Rotherham 3-0.
Joe Walsh scored the only goal of the game as Milton Keynes Dons
grabbed a vital 1-0 win against Reading, while the matches between
Ipswich and Preston and Huddersfield and Fulham both ended 1-1.