Hull City 2-3 Nottingham Forest
- Published
Hull City fans threw tennis balls onto the pitch in protest against the club's owners, the Allam family
Kieran Dowell's superb hat-trick gave Nottingham Forest victory over Hull, in a game punctuated by protests from the Tigers fans against the club's owners.
Shortly after the match had been interrupted by Hull supporters throwing tennis balls onto the pitch, Dowell's 20-yard strike put Forest in front.
The 20-year-old brilliantly steered in his second after half-time, only for Jarrod Bowen's curler to make it 2-1.
Dowell scored his third from the spot, before Michael Hector's consolation.
Hector's 88th-minute effort rounded off a frantic final 20 minutes, during which both teams scored twice and Dowell completed a first hat-trick in senior football.
The Everton loanee's first two goals - a powerful shot from distance and a smart half-volley into the bottom corner - set the platform for Forest's victory, before his penalty after Tyler Walker had been fouled made the game safe.
The Tigers, whose supporters also held a protest march prior to kick-off, had been in the ascendency before the game had to be temporarily halted on 20 minutes because dozens of tennis balls had been thrown onto the pitch.
After that the home team lost their momentum, and could have fallen further behind had Ben Osborn's shot not hit the crossbar and if Jason Cummings had been more clinical when well placed.
Mark Warburton's side move up to 11th in the Championship table, ending 17th-placed Hull's three-game unbeaten sequence.
Hull City manager Leonid Slutsky told BBC Humberside:
"We controlled the second ball zone. We played really right. We had a lot of chances and we missed them.
"If we had equalised when the score was 1-0, it would have been much more easy for us. We tried to come back from 2-0 and 3-1 down.
"I don't have a problem with the players' character and team spirit but we made some mistakes.
(On fans' protest): "A lot of moments were before me and I don't know the situation. It is very difficult to speak about."
Nottingham Forest manager Mark Warburton:
"I thought we were good, thought we were very good and it was a deserved victory. Hull have a number of talented individuals and good players but I thought we created chances and defended the goal with real passion.
On Dowell, who won the Under-20 World Cup with England last summer, he added: "I thought he played very well. All young players have good days and bad days at the office, it's how they deal with mistakes.
Kieran made mistakes at the start of the season but the beauty of Kieran Dowell is that he learns from them. He works hard everyday, I'm delighted for him but he knows there is a lot of work ahead."