Hull City 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
- Published
Hull City moved into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a deserved victory over Championship rivals Brighton.
The Tigers, beaten finalists in 2014, took the lead when Robert Snodgrass converted a penalty after Lewis Dunk fouled Hull midfielder Harry Maguire.
Snodgrass also fired just wide from a 35-yard free-kick with Isaac Hayden and Adama Diomande wasting other chances.
Brighton, who have now not won in seven matches, nearly forced a replay but Andrew Crofts hit the crossbar late on.
Promotion is the priority
With Hull third in the Championship, one place above Brighton, both sides showed their priority this season is winning promotion to the Premier League.
Both Tigers boss Steve Bruce and Seagulls counterpart Chris Hughton made seven changes to the teams that played in their last league matches, against QPR and Wolves respectively.
But Hughton will be growing increasingly concerned by his side's recent lack of cutting edge. They were top in December but have since fallen down the table and this match was the fifth in a row in which they failed to score.
Indeed, they took 82 minutes to have an attempt at goal, when substitute Sam Baldock shot wide. However, there was nearly a dramatic twist in the third minute of injury time as Crofts got on the end of Kazenga LuaLua's cross but his shot rebounded off the bar.
What they said
Hull City manager Steve Bruce: "I made seven changes and it shows the strength in depth.
"We have had 23 attempts on goal to their two, however, they've hit the bar in the last minute. The only disappointing thing was that final touch and our performance warranted more goals."
Brighton manager Chris Hughton: "I had to look at it as an opportunity to rest some. Players will come back in and hopefully they will freshen us up a bit.
"We knew they were going to make changes, but they were fortunate to be able to bring in some Premier League quality. We left behind four or five players that had played almost every minute of every game.
"We defended very well and had two clear-cut chances, but they had a bit more pace and quality than what we did."
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