Hull City vs. Liverpool: Winners and Losers from Premier League
Hull City earned a major victory in their survival fight on Tuesday night, as they downed Liverpool, 1-0, at the KC Stadium.
Michael Dawson powered a header past Simon Mignolet in the 37th minute to give the Tigers some breathing room above the bottom three.
Liverpool left the match with plenty of concerns about the state of the club entering the final month of the season. After failing to take advantage of their game in hand in the race for fifth place, the Reds are tied with Tottenham Hotspur with 58 points.
Here's a look at the winners and losers from Hull's home victory over hapless Liverpool.
Winner: Michael Dawson
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Dawson was gifted plenty of space in the penalty area in the seconds before his head connected with Ahmed Elmohamady's cross in the 37th minute.
The former Tottenham Hotspur player scored his first league goal since January 1, 2013, per Opta, to hand the Tigers a valuable victory in the penultimate month of the season.
After he knocked home his first goal in a Hull City shirt, Dawson turned in a strong shift at the back in order to secure the victory.
The impressive performance from the center-back allowed Hull to gain a good amount of momentum heading into their final four matches of the season.
"We need another win—Arsenal won't fancy coming here next Monday after seeing that," Dawson said after the match, per the Premier League's official Twitter account.
Loser: Mario Balotelli
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Criticizing Mario Balotelli for his lazy play up top for Liverpool is beginning to get redundant.
The biggest mistake the Italian forward committed Tuesday came in his own end during the buildup to Dawson's goal. Balotelli ignored an urgent call from Dejan Lovren to push up in the box, and while he slowly tracked forward, Elmohamady launched his pass from the right wing.
In his preferred side of the pitch, Balotelli placed one of his two shots on target. The lone attempt Balotelli sent in on goal was a backheel from the middle of the box in the 25th minute.
With Daniel Sturridge out of the lineup and few reliable options behind Balotelli on the depth chart, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers may be forced to keep the Italian in the starting lineup for the rest of the season regardless of how he produces.
Winner: Robbie Brady
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Robbie Brady produced a splendid 90 minutes of play on the wing for the Tigers as they climbed further away from the bottom three.
Brady challenged and beat Emre Can on a few occasions in the first half as Hull searched for the first goal of the match.
The 23-year-old's ability on set pieces also allowed Hull to threaten the Liverpool back four early and often.
If Brady can carry his wonderful shift over to the final four games of the season, Hull will not have any concerns about falling into the desperate survival race.
Losers: Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert
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With his team in need of a spark, Rodgers entered Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert into the match in the 65th minute for Jordan Ibe and Balotelli.
When the final whistle blew on their respective 25-minute shifts, the former Southampton pair combined for 23 touches and one shot off target.
The disappointing outing off the bench for both players left little hope in the minds of Liverpool fans that their team can find a true attacking threat in order to stay in the top five.
Since neither player featured in a massive way in a substitute role against Hull, it wouldn't come as a shock if they are both left out of the starting XI once again on Saturday against Queens Park Rangers.
"We've scored 47 goals, and this time last season, it was over 90, so that's the reality of where we are," Rodgers said after the match, per the Premier League's official Twitter account.
Winner: Paul McShane
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Dawson will receive most of the credit for Hull's defensive performance because of his name and the goal he scored, but the entire back line turned in a fantastic 90 minutes.
Paul McShane popped up in a few instances in the second half, as his head knocked away a few potentially dangerous crosses that Liverpool players sent into the box.
McShane also didn't succumb to the pressure that some players in his position might do late in the match. Even though Liverpool threw everyone forward in the final 10 minutes, they were unable to break through the Hull defense with ease.
If McShane, Dawson and the rest of the Hull defense remain organized during the quartet of contests in May, the Tigers won't have to stress much when the final day of the season comes around.
Loser: Brendan Rodgers
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Based off what we've witnessed over the last four days, Liverpool are out of ideas in every facet of the game.
For long stretches of Tuesday's loss and for most of Saturday's scoreless draw with West Bromwich Albion, some of Liverpool's top players looked like they didn't care to be out on the pitch.
With a favorable matchup ahead on Saturday against QPR, Rodgers must find a way to inspire his side in front of the fans at Anfield.
If he brings a three-game losing streak into the May 10 clash with Chelsea and loses that match, the pressure from the fans will grow on the shoulders of Rodgers.
With four games left to make a good impression heading into the offseason, Rodgers is in need of a fix. What that might be remains to be seen, but he needs to do something different in order to achieve a few decent results.
David Lyons of the Belfast Telegraph, meanwhile, offered five reasons why Liverpool must stick by Rodgers.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
All statistics obtained from WhoScored.com.
