Hull City sealed their place in the Fourth Round of the Capital One Cup as their resilient display saw them past 2013 winners Swansea City.
Despite Swansea's dominance throughout they lost the game as Kristoffer Nordfeldt saved a Shaun Maloney effort before David Meyler rebounded in to give the Tigers an unexpected win.
The big team news pre-game was the return of Jake Livermore to the Hull side. Battling personal issues off-pitch, the former Spurs man made a return to training having not played since May following a failed drugs test.
It didn't take the visitors long to register a chance on goal, a free kick was floated into he area but Eder failed to get his shot on target from close range. This was within the first five minutes and the divisional gap was a tad evident during this phase.
Hull's first effort of note came ten minutes into the game when Meyler lashed an effort at goal but Nordfeldt pushed it over and out for a corner.
Goal Line Clearance Spares Tigers
The game ebbed and flowed well, with an end to end style game emerging. However a huge chance presented itself for Swansea as Eder charged down an Eldin Jakupovic clearance which cannoned off the post and fell to Gylfi Sigurdsson, who rounded the Hull 'keeper before seeing his shot cleared off the line by Curtis Davies.
Swansea were well on top for most of the first half, with Hull spouting chances and taking the game to the Premier League club. However Nordfeldt had to be on his toes to stop an effort from Chuba Akpom. The Arsenal loanee was teed up by Meyler and created space to shoot, but the Swans 'keeper was equal to it.
Then came a burst of Swansea efforts, with some wondering how they hadn't taken the lead. Wayne Routledge was denied by Jakupovic before the stopper was well on hand to save Angel Rangel's point blank header from Matt Grimes' cross.
The Swans continued to dominate and Franck Tabanou's cross was well met by Routledge, but he headed the ball over as the visitors kept on knocking on the door.
Tigers Take Unexpected Lead
Arguably against the run of play Hull took the lead. Maloney had a header saved by Nordfeldt but Meyler was on hand to score the rebound. Hull had been creating chances but it's arguable that Swansea were the dominant team.
At half time Hull led 1-0 despite the fact they only had 35% possession, however they were more clinical as despite chance upon chance for the visitors, they just couldn't finish.
Swansea came out the blocks firing on all cylinders in the second half, as they had the ball in the back of the net, only for it to be ruled out as Routledge was offside when Grimes played him in. Another chance arose shortly before the hour mark as Ki Sung-Yeung tapped his shot wide from just inside the box.
Just past the hour mark Hull had their first notable instance of the second half. Akpom floated a great looking ball into the box, only for Rangel to have it well under control.
A Standing Ovation
Livermore's return to the Hull starting XI lasted 69 minutes, and a heartfelt moment of applause and a standing ovation followed the news that Sam Clucas was to replace the midfielder.
As the game wound down Swansea continued to look for that all important equalizer. Kyle Bartley must have thought he'd scored after he connected with Sigurdsson's corner, however Andy Robertson was in the right place at the right time to clear the effort off the line.
Sigurdsson was at it again as he fired a shot from 20 yards out, however it failed to hit the target and flew over Jakupovic's goal. However the Tigers helf firm and secured what can only be described as an upset, Steve Bruce's side proceed to the next round at the expense of Swansea.