Hull City managed to pull themselves out of the relegation zone as they battled to a 1-1 draw at Everton. The Toffees went ahead through Romelu Lukaku's first half goal. The Tigers got back into the game in the form of substitute Sone Aluko, who fired past Everton 'keeper Tim Howard to secure what may be an invaluable point for Steve Bruce's men.

Everton went into this game on the back of a narrow defeat to Spurs, and were only missing Steven Naismith as they named a strong side to face Hull. The Tigers were on a run of four straight defeats, the latest of which was a demoralising 3-0 loss at Old Trafford to a resurgent Manchester United.

It was the visitors who had the better start. Former Everton striker Nikica Jelavic had chances to open the scoring but couldn't get close enough to the goal. Lukaku had the first real chance of the game, his powerful shot was straight at Hull 'keeper Allan McGregor.

Lukaku was a eal thorn in Hull's side throughout the first half, he latched on to some beautiful play by Gareth Barry and Ross Barkley, but he couldn't find the net. The breakthrough came from Kevin Mirallas' excellent cross, which fell to Lukaku, who fired past McGregor from six yards. Everton grew into the first half as Hull started the game brighter, but went in at the break behind.

The visitors started the second half like they started the first, with Mohamed Diame's vicious 12 yard shot deflected wide for a corner. This turned out to be Diame's last contribution as he went off with a suspected knee injury five minutes into the half, he was replaced by Aluko.

Almost ten minutes later Aluko levelled the scores. He breezed past Sylvain Distin and laced his shot at Howard's near post, beating the American and grabbing his first goal in a whopping 29 games. The goal also turned out to be Hull's only shot on target in the whole match.

The game entered a period of stasis s neither side showed any real urgency to get the winner. Everton faded away after Hull's equaliser, as Hull themselves seemed happy to settle for the point. Towards the end of the game Everton really started to pressure Hull, who were made to defend deep in their own half.

There were six minutes of added time as David Meyler went down injured with only a few minutes on the clock. Hull wasted a perfect chance to grab a late winner.Robbie Brady, on for the injured Meyler, wasted a great counter attack and meant the game ended in a draw, perhaps a result which was well deserved.

Hull will look to get their first win since early October when they play West Brom on Saturday, while Everton face a very tough trip to the Etihad to face Manchester City.

Everton (1) Hull (1)
       
Howard 6 McGregor 7
Coleman 5 Elmohamady 7
Distin 5 Chester 7
Jagielka 6 Dawson 5
Baines 6 Rosenior 6
Mirallas (1) 62' 7 Livermore 6
Barry 6 Meyler (2) 84' 6
Besic (2) 78' 6 Diame (1) 51' 6
Osman 6 Huddlestone 6
Barkley 6 Quinn (3) 86' 7
Lukaku 6 Jelavic 6
Substitutions
 Pienaar (1) 5  Aluko (1) 7
 McGeady (2) 5  Brady (2) 6
     Robertson (3) 6
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About the author
Aaron Irwin
Formula 1 editor, Football League co-editor at VAVEL UK. Writer since July 2014. Hull City correspondent. Currently studying for a Journalism degree at Hull School of Art and Design.