28.12.2014 19:00 h

Leicester grab lifeline at Hull

Leicester City claimed their first win in 14 Premier League matches to give their survival hopes a boost with a 1-0 success at Hull City on Sunday.

The Foxes were crafty enough to win a game in which they were thoroughly dominated, bagging the winner just after the half-hour through Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez.

It was a timely boost for the 23-year-old who went out to Brazil with Algeria this summer, playing once, will have one eye on the African Cup of Nations finals starting in mid-January.

With his hair slicked back and sporting black gloves, his left-footed stinger from outside the box was a worthy winner as it flashed into the bottom left corner.

The strike sent the small away support wild, as they smelled the possibility of only a third Premier League win all season for the cash-strapped newly promoted side.

The win leaves Leicester City on a meagre 13 points, but lifts them to within just three of safety with Hull, Crystal Palace and Burnley all level on 16 points above the,

It was a happy return to Hull for former player Nigel Pearson, now the Leicester coach, but his opposite number Steve Bruce is coming under increasing pressure in his own hot-seat as the Tigers slide down the table.

Both sides actually ended a bad tempered game with ten men, Leicester's Paul Konchesky getting sent off for a violent tackle on 87 minutes while already on a yellow card, while Hull's Stephen Quinn was sent off in stoppage time for a deliberate hand ball.

And if Leicester have something to smile about, Bruce and his men will be left to reflect on their poor finishing, having managed 18 attempts on goal compared to Leicester's two.