Kyle Joseph brace keeps Hull in play-off places after victory at 10-man Millwall

Kyle Joseph scored twice in the early stages as Hull kept themselves sixth in the Sky Bet Championship with a 3-1 victory over 10-man Millwall at the Den.

This was the Tigers’ second straight win and this was an encounter they largely controlled as they went back above Stoke after their victory earlier on Saturday.

It was a frustrating afternoon for the promotion-chasing Lions, however, as they lost for the first time in five games to drop to fourth, while they also lost top scorer Femi Azeez to a straight red card in the second half.

Millwall raced out of the traps and were almost ahead with just 45 seconds played when Tristan Crama’s shot from outside the box needed to be pushed behind by Hull goalkeeper Ivor Pandur.

Before two minutes were on the clock, Pandur was tested again as he kept out Mihailo Ivanovic’s effort before beating home captain Jake Cooper to the rebound.

Having survived these early scares, Hull took the lead in the sixth minute when Mohamed Belloumi’s cross found the unmarked Joseph who had the simple task of knocking into the bottom corner.

Ra’ees Bangura-Williams tried to provide an immediate reply for the hosts when his rising shot was tipped over by Pandur, who had had a very busy start to his afternoon.

At the other end, the Tigers were clinical as they doubled their lead in the 13th minute when Amir Hadziahmetovic played Liam Millar in behind down the left and his ball across the face of goal allowed Joseph to tap in his second.

It almost got even better for Hull when Belloumi had a shot beaten away by Millwall goalkeeper Max Crocombe, who then denied Regan Slater a sumptuous individual goal.

The impressive Belloumi then bent an effort narrowly over after cutting in from the right as the visitors did not sit back on their two-goal lead as the match reached half-time.

The Lions finally created another opportunity when Aidomo Emakhu’s cross reached Azeez at the back post, but his effort was pushed out by Pandur.

Their chances of mounting a comeback looked to have taken a critical hit after 76 minutes when Azeez was shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident with Joseph.

However, they were back in the game four minutes later when a superb pass by Alfie Doughty put Emakhu in behind and he kept his composure by finishing into the far corner for his first goal of the season.

But Hull finally finished the game once and for all in the 88th minute when Lewie Coyle’s terrific cross was guided in by Oli McBurnie’s header – with Millwall boss Alex Neil being booked for his protests in the aftermath.