Hull City 2-1 West Ham United

Andrea Ranocchia's goal was his first for Hull since he joined on loan from Inter Milan in January

Hull City claimed a priceless win in their battle against relegation from the Premier League as a second-half fightback saw off West Ham at the KCOM Stadium.

Andy Carroll's 50th Premier League goal put West Ham into a deserved lead at the break, but strikes by Andrew Robertson and Andrea Ranocchia turned the game in the second half.

Hull move on to 27 points, level with fourth-bottom Swansea City who are in action on Sunday against fellow strugglers Middlesbrough.

Marco Silva's side face Middlesbrough themselves on Wednesday night, when another three points could see them climb out of the bottom three.

Defeat for West Ham, meanwhile, continues a disappointing run of form that has now seen them lose four league games in a row.

Slaven Bilic's side are winless in six in the Premier League - a run stretching back to 4 February - and have dropped to 14th place, six points above the drop zone.

• Relive Hull's win at the KCOM Stadium

• Reaction to all of Saturday's matches

Home comforts keep Hull in touch

Lazar Markovic (50) played a central role in Hull's opener, cutting in from the right and exchanging passes with Abel Hernandez before picking out Kamil Grosicki, who claimed the first of his two assists with a weighted ball into the path of Andrew Robertson.

If Hull are to maintain their Premier League status come May, it is days like this that they will point to as key moments.

Their home form has been superb since the appointment of Silva in January, with 13 points won from a possible 15 - a run that has taken in wins against Bournemouth, Liverpool, Swansea and now West Ham.

Silva is now personally unbeaten in 39 home league matches including jobs before he came to England, and the Portuguese appreciates the importance of the statistic.

"These are really good numbers," said Silva. "They give confidence to me and to the players."

This latest win came despite an abject opening period by the hosts, who failed to put any pressure on an out-of-sorts West Ham missing the likes of Winston Reid and Michail Antonio.

Carroll's opening goal was a gift from Hull's Curtis Davies, who badly misjudged the flight of Aaron Cresswell's lofted pass to allow the big striker an easy finish from eight yards.

But a half-time change from a three-man defence to a flat back four improved the Tigers' performance.

Kamil Grosicki, introduced from the bench for Davies, was involved in the equaliser, receiving the ball after great work by Lazar Markovic and laying into the path of Robertson who advanced to fire home his first Premier League goal.

Alfred N'Diaye hit the post for the home team a short while later but West Ham appeared to have done enough to take away a point only for Ranocchia to rise unmarked to head the winner from Grosicki's corner five minutes from full-time.

Hammers fail to punish slow-starting Tigers

For much of this game West Ham looked far and away the better side, with Manuel Lanzini impressive in midfield and Carroll bossing the forward line.

With Mark Noble dropped to the bench, Carroll was captain for the day and responded with a typically bullish and influential performance, winning headers in his own area and giving Hull's back three a generally torrid time in the first period.

He took his goal very well, bringing the ball down on his chest and firing unerringly beyond Eldin Jakupovic. He ended the half with a clattering challenge on Ranocchia, dazing the Italian and underlining his menace.

Yet Hull's switch to a four-man defence completely altered the contest. More cover on the wings strangled the supply line to Carroll, who only had one chance of note in the second half with a header straight at Jakupovic.

Hull's equaliser was as well worked as it was well deserved, after which there only looked like being one winner, particularly when N'Diaye thumped against the post and Grosicki fired just wide on the rebound.

Ranocchia duly delivered the killer punch late on, but in truth it was a self-inflicted wound for the Hammers, who allowed the Italian too much space at the near post as the visitors' set-piece weaknesses were exposed again.

Man of the match - Andrew Robertson (Hull City)

Robertson is always a tireless outlet down the left for Hull and was rewarded for his endeavour with a first Premier League goal, which he took with the cool head of a striker. He also led his team in touches (81), passes (49), interceptions (two) and gaining possession (10)

Grosicki makes his mark - match stats

• Kamil Grosicki became the first Hull player to assist twice in a Premier League game.

• Andy Carroll opened the scoring with his 50th Premier League goal. He is the 44th English player to reach that milestone.

• Aaron Cresswell provided the assist for Carroll's goal; it was his 10th in the Premier League since joining West Ham in 2014

• Three of Cresswell's last four Premier League assists have been for Andy Carroll.

• Hull's goalscorers Andrew Robertson and Andrea Ranocchia scored their first ever Premier League goals, by netting in this match.

• West Ham have lost 20 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, the most of any side in the competition.

• Marco Silva hasn't lost a home league match as a manager in over three years: (W32 D7 L0) with four clubs (Estoril, Sporting, Olympiakos and Hull).

• Andy Carroll has played the full 90 minutes in four successive league games for the first time since April 2014.

'Very hard to take' - manager quotes

Hull head coach Marco Silva: "We changed some things [at half-time], the system. I think we changed our confidence as well.

"In the first half we were too slow, in the second half we played with more confidence. We had a great 25 minutes at the start of the second half. We scored one goal and could have had more. One off the post. I think we deserve this victory.

"It was really important. In our stadium with our fans we are stronger. All the games now are important. We showed again this afternoon how strong we are when we play at home."

On the fight against relegation: "It's our goal. Since we came we have said that. It's difficult. It's important we had a good performance this afternoon but we need to fight until the end of the season for sure.

"This result gives confidence but this game is finished and Middlesbrough is another game."

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic: "I was very satisfied [at half-time]. We were winning, they didn't have have a shot on target, we neutralised them.

"It was all good until they equalised. They had five minutes of a good spell but then we came back again. To concede a set-piece again, it is very hard to take. We conceded two against Leicester, one against Bournemouth, it's no good.

"Ranocchia was basically in that position alone, and we didn't mark him."

On the shrinking gap to the bottom three: "They are making up ground. It's very open and they are closing the gap. With a point we are keeping them nine points behind us, but now it's six."

On his future: "I'm doing my job. I'm motivated. But if we are doing so many mistakes then you will pay the price."

What's next?

A massive midweek encounter is next up for Hull as they play host to second-bottom Middlesbrough on Wednesday night (19:45 BST). West Ham are in action at the same time, making the trip across London to play Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.