Joe Gelhardt’s last-gasp goal earned Hull a smash-and-grab 2-1 win at Stoke and saw them climb into the top six.
Sorba Thomas scored a first-half wonder goal to give Mark Robins’ side a deserved lead at the break, but, facing a third successive defeat, the Tigers battled back after half-time.
Defender Semi Ajayi scored a controversial 47th-minute equaliser before Gelhardt’s ninth goal of the season earned the visitors an unlikely three points.
The final whistle sparked a brawl between rival players, with a number of objects thrown onto the pitch by home fans before calm was restored.
Defeat was harsh on Thomas, whose stunning 17th-minute strike was his seventh of the season and third in two games.
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Joe Gelhardt scored the winner in the match between Stoke and Hull.
Stoke, fortunate to escape conceding an early penalty when Ashley Phillips sent Matt Crooks sprawling, saw Hull goalkeeper Ivor Pandur keep out Robert Bozenik’s low left-footed effort after 13 minutes before tipping away Thomas’s 20-yard curler.
But the Croatian keeper was powerless to prevent the former Huddersfield forward from cracking home his latest goal.
Skipper Aaron Cresswell’s corner was headed out by Ajayi but the loose ball was thumped into the roof of the net by Thomas from 16 yards.
The Wales international’s latest goal-of-the-season contender was his seventh in 18 second-tier games since a summer move to the Potteries.
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Sorba Thomas gives Stoke City the lead in their match against Hull City.
He needed four years at Huddersfield and more than a century of Championship games to previously attain that mark.
But for the Hull goalkeeper, Stoke would have been out of sight by half-time – as they were against Charlton in midweek.
South Korean Bae Junho’s 20-yard attempt was arrowing into the bottom corner only for Pandur to keep it out.
Hull shook off their overworked defensive duties to fashion a first effort on target but John Egan’s 41st-minute header was easily gathered by Viktor Johansson.
Unsurprisingly, Hull made changes at half-time with Mohamed Belloumi and Kyle Joseph replacing Darko Gyabi and Joel Ndala.
Within two minutes of the restart they had levelled. Johansson kept out a fierce Ryan Giles shot at the expense of a corner but could not stop Ajayi heading in Belloumi’s assist, with no flag raised for either offside or handball against the substitute.
Hull now looked the team most likely and Johansson saved Gelhardt’s effort at the second attempt after 62 minutes.
Only a stunning tackle by captain Lewis Coyle denied Stoke as Junho closed in on Junior Tchamadeu’s cross, while Tatsuki Seko’s header was flying goalwards until blocked by Egan.
John Lundstram might have won it with a late volley for the visitors, but when Belloumi played in Gelhardt, Hull’s top scorer did the rest in the closing moments.
The managers on the unsavoury brawl
Mark Robins is expecting a mass brawl at the end of Stoke’s 2-1 defeat at home to Hull to result in fines for both clubs.
The Potters boss also accused a member of the Tigers’ management team of inflaming the ugly scenes following Hull’s comeback win courtesy of Joe Gelhardt’s last-gasp winner.
Robins absolved his own players of blame, though several objects appeared to be thrown by home fans angered by visiting players celebrating in front of them.
“I spoke to the referee (Leigh Doughty) who said one of their players had incited the crowd by celebrating in front of them,” explained Robins. “The crowd has then got up.
“Ash (Phillips) got involved somehow, which is what happens in incendiary situations having just lost with emotions high.
“It then starts to calm down before one of their management team gets involved, says something, then it all lights again.
“It’s nothing to do with my players, but on the back of it we will get fined, which is an absolute joke.”
Referee Doughty booked five players in stoppage time following the after-match scenes, but Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic played down the incident.
“I don’t know what happened because I spoke with the Stoke City gaffer,” he said. “We tried to split the players, but for me this is part of football. I think it is normal you celebrate a victory but I understand the fans and Stoke City players are angry because they lost the game, especially after the first half.
“This is not for the public,” he said of his half-time team-talk. “It must stay in the dressing room. But it was a nice chat. I was not angry, but if we continued to play like that we could go home immediately.
“I just prayed we went in at half-time just 1-0 down because we didn’t control anything. They were much better than us, so we agreed we needed to be on the front foot and have more pressure. The equalising goal was a big boost for us. And then the game was 50-50.”
