Hull City 2 Watford 0: Clucas stunner helps 10-man Tigers to vital win

Sam Clucas’ stunning volley put the seal on a superb Hull City win as the 10-man Tigers continued their fine home form with a 2-0 victory over Watford.

Marco Silva enjoyed his sixth win from seven Premier League matches at the KCOM Stadium as Hull overcame the first-half dismissal of Oumar Niasse, with Lazar Markovic also on target.

With Swansea City having beaten Stoke City, it was a crucial result for the Yorkshire club, who remain two points above the relegation zone with four games remaining.

And they had to do it the hard way on Saturday after Niasse was shown a red card for what appeared at worst to be a clumsy challenge on M’Baye Niang just 25 minutes in.

Watford wasted a couple of presentable chances before the interval, notably from Sebastian Prodl and Miguel Britos headers, before Markovic capped a swift break with the opener after 62 minutes.

The points were made safe in style, Clucas controlling on his chest and sending a fine volley beyond Heurelho Gomes 19 minutes from time.

| 2-0 #HULWAT pic.twitter.com/BDTyeCflOp

— Hull City (@HullCity) April 22, 2017

Harry Maguire showed some early nerves with a woeful back-pass that had Eldin Jakupovic scrambling across his goal, with a corner the only consequence. 

Clucas scuffed an effort well wide when the ball dropped to him on the edge of the box at the other end in a scrappy opening.

But the match appeared to swing in the visitors’ favour when Niasse was dismissed after catching Niang on the shin, having left his leg dangling in a tackle.

Watford almost made the extra man count when Prodl’s header forced Jakupovic into a superb one-handed save just past the half-hour mark, while Britos spurned a glorious opening soon after, heading wide at the back post under no pressure.

The Tigers enjoyed another let-off after gifting possession to Troy Deeney, whose pass was miscontrolled by Nordin Amrabat inside the box as the chance went begging.

Walter Mazzarri’s side struggled to press home their numerical advantage, but did call Jakupovic into action on the hour as Etienne Capoue’s shot was blocked by the goalkeeper’s foot.

And Hull made them pay with a rapid counter-attack, Kamil Grosicki delivering for Markovic, whose first effort hit the crossbar and bounced on the line before the Liverpool loanee made sure by stabbing it in.

| 1-0 #HULWAT pic.twitter.com/Tt0dHA8Kwj

— Hull City (@HullCity) April 22, 2017

Buoyed by that boost, Hull continued on the front foot and Clucas struck a free-kick narrowly wide before taking centre stage with his goal, which was worthy of settling any contest.

With the Hornets occupying the safety of mid-table, the visitors showed little intent to make the afternoon a nervy one for Hull, who easily saw out the game to advance their hopes of remaining a top-flight club next season.