Hull City 1-0 Norwich

Yannick Sagbo

Yannick Sagbo won a penalty and was sent off for a headbutt as Robbie Brady's spot-kick gave Hull a battling Premier League win over Norwich.

Former Hull defender Michael Turner fouled Sagbo in the area and Brady calmly placed a low effort past Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy.

Sagbo was shown a straight red card moments later for a headbutt on Norwich captain Russell Martin.

Norwich played an hour with an extra man but could not find an equaliser.

The Canaries struggled to break down an organised Hull side despite manager Chris Hughton's attempts to add more firepower during the summer.

Hughton signed Dutch striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel for £8.5m from Sporting Lisbon and Gary Hooper from Celtic for about £5m.

Hooper was missing with an injury sustained in the opening game of the season against Everton, but Van Wolfswinkel had just a solitary chance of note.

Sweden forward Johan Elmander, who joined Norwich on a season-long loan from Galatasaray earlier in the week, came off the bench in the second half but was unable to influence proceedings.

The visitors did apply the early pressure though, and debutant Leroy Fer went close with a header.

Canaries winger Nathan Redmond, who was a threat throughout the first half with his direct running, then brought a fine save out of Hull goalkeeper Allan McGregor with a swerving shot from distance.

But it was Hull who took the lead in the 22nd minute when referee Mike Jones awarded a penalty against Norwich's Turner.

The defender, who played for the Tigers from 2006 to 2009 before joining Sunderland, held Hull striker Sagbo as the pair challenged for a high ball into the penalty area and Brady calmly sent Ruddy the wrong way with a low effort placed into the bottom-left corner.

The joy of Hull boss Steve Bruce turned to anger five minutes later when Ivory Coast international Sagbo, a summer signing from French club Evian, was shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball headbutt on Norwich defender Martin as the home side defended a corner.

Norwich dominated possession in the remainder of the opening 45 minutes but with Hull retreating further into their own half of the pitch, the visitors became increasingly frustrated.

That was the pattern after half-time as well and even when the hosts were briefly reduced to nine men when centre-back Curtis Davies sustained a cut to his head, the Canaries struggled to make the extra men count.

Norwich midfielder Jonny Howson twice went close with long-range efforts but McGregor was only really tested by a Van Wolfswinkel header just after the hour mark.

Bruce was fuming with referee Jones as he added on seven minutes of added time, but his side hung on to become the first of the newly promoted teams to win, and in the process secure Hull's first Premier League victory since a 2-0 success against Fulham in March 2010.

Hull City boss Steve Bruce: "We are obviously delighted to get up running, it was vitally important. We couldn't have made it more difficult for ourselves with the sending off.

"Last season we got ourselves promoted because defensively we were organised. We didn't score a lot but defensively our organisation was sound.

"If we are going to make a fist of it in the Premier League this season we are going to have to be good without the ball."

Norwich City boss Chris Hughton: "I thought the penalty was soft. If you are going to give that as a penalty then you are going to give so many of them in every game.

"Shortly before that Michael Turner gets pushed in the box by Curtis Davies and for me that is a bigger claim for penalty than the one he's given. So I feel really aggrieved with that.

"We were chasing it in the second half and had a lot of the play, and some good periods of play. But we didn't pressure their goal enough for the amount of the ball we had in the final third."