Hull City manager Steve Bruce admitted that his side benefitted from a series of refereeing decisions in Saturday s 1-0 win over West Ham.
A debatable penalty for a foul on Robbie Brady – which the winger duly converted by sending Jussi Jaaskelainen the wrong way – was enough to secure back-to-back Premier League victories for Steve Bruce s side for the first time since October 2008.
But the decision sparked controversy as Brady went down somewhat easily following an aerial challenge with Joey O Brien, with referee Kevin Friend deeming that there had been enough contact to award the spot-kick.
West Ham searched in vain for an equaliser, and will consider themselves unlucky not to have been awarded at least one penalty of their own, with handballs from Curtis Davies and Jake Livermore in the penalty area going unpunished.
Hull nearly made it 2-0 in the second half when Livermore hit the post with a driven effort.
And Bruce praised the application of his side in the narrow victory.
The big decisions have gone our way, Bruce admitted.
But we had some injuries and showed terrific attitude to get the win.
Sam Allardyce can rightly feel aggrieved about the penalty; it looked like a soft one.
I wouldn t call it simulation (by Brady), but I ll have to wait until I see it again.
The win lifts Hull up to seventh place in the Premier League and they are on a three-match unbeaten run ahead of their home fixture with Aston Villa on October 5.
