West Bromwich Albion 5-2 Hull City: Rampant Baggies earn first Championship win of season
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West Brom led without having a strike on target thanks to Callum Elder's first-half own goal
Stunning long-range strikes from John Swift and Darnell Furlong helped West Brom coast to their first Championship win of the season as they ended Hull City's unbeaten league start in fine style.
The Baggies, in the bottom three prior to kick-off, struggled to create chances early on and could easily have trailed but were ahead at the break through Callum Elder's unfortunate own goal.
Steve Bruce's increasingly confident side doubled their lead within three minutes of the restart, Swift lashing home his second goal of the season from the edge of the box before Furlong made it 3-0 with another sumptuous long-range shot.
Karlan Grant added a fourth from the penalty spot and, in between an Oscar Estupinan close-range double for Hull, Dara O'Shea's simple finish ensured the hosts secured a sixth consecutive success against the Tigers.
The Baggies, 22nd in the table before kick off and booed off after an uninspiring 0-0 home draw with Cardiff in midweek, finished convincing winners but had keeper David Button to thank for preventing the visitors going ahead in the early stages.
Button made saves from Ozan Tufan and Elder and was again called into action to brilliantly tip Estupinan's effort onto the bar after a delightful pass from new Tigers signing Ryan Woods, who came on for his debut for the injured Tufan after 21 minutes.
But it was the hosts who went ahead, Elder getting the crucial touch to turn in Furlong's cross from the right.
West Brom endured five games without a win after Steve Bruce's arrival as boss last season before his first victory - 2-0 - arrived against former side Hull. They always looked like repeating that pattern having gone ahead, but this time the victory was considerably more emphatic.
Swift's rasping low strike across goal made it 2-0 and and an even better long-range hit from Furlong extended the lead.
A Randell Williams shot hit the bar as Hull responded but Grant slotted home a spot-kick after Lewie Coyle's foul to make it 4-0.
Estupinan's late double, which took his took his tally to four in two matches - and O'Shea's scrambled effort - ensured a frantic finale but the outcome was already settled long before the late drama.
West Brom manager Steve Bruce on the win and winger Grady Diangana:
"We were a bit anxious and wary - we missed chances, so we needed something like that [the own goal] to get us up and running. You could see then that after that goal there was a little bit of confidence which started running through the team and it grew from there.
"We know that we've got some good players here, but we've got to be consistent with our performances. I'm disappointed the way we finished the game but we needed a win and we got it. Overall, we controlled the game and deserved the three points.
"That's the best I've seen Grady play. The biggest challenge for me when I walked through the door was to get him playing well again.
"He's had a big summer and has worked tirelessly in the gym, but he's loves his football. We know his talent. People purred at some of the stuff he did. He gets you on the edge of your seat and there's not many who can do that, and he does it with natural ability."
Hull head coach Shota Arveladze:
"We knew at 4-0 behind we wanted to do something to make it less hard and less painful. When you make it 5-1 it looks very bad so 5-2 gives some reaction, which, if you want to find something positive, gives us that feeling.
"They were better than us and we have to accept that, especially in the second half. We had a bit of the play in the first half an hour, but they played better than us. They played forward more.
"In the second half, they scored the second goal then got a third and we couldn't stay in the game.
"They had one day less to prepare - they played on Wednesday - so we should have looked fitter than them, but we didn't."