Hull pass on opportunity to move out of Premier League bottom three following draw with Burnley

Hull City 1 Burnley 1: Goals from Tom Huddleston and Michael Keane ensured the spoils were shared at the KCOM Stadium on Saturday afternoon

The home side were unable to take all three points from the visitors (Getty)

Burnley's defender Michael Keane made decisive contributions in both penalty areas within five second half minutes as Hull wasted the opportunity to move out of the Premier League’s relegation zone.

After 71 minutes, Keane handled a corner from Kamil Grosicki, presenting Tom Huddlestone with a penalty kick which he converted only after keeper Tom Heaton had dived sharply to his right and put a strong hand on the shot.

But it took just five minutes for Keane to make amends, and the equaliser, from Robbie Brady’s left-wing corner.

The cross found the defender who controlled the ball neatly on his chest before clinically burying his shot into the home goal from six yards.

Tom Huddlestone celebrates scoring for Hull (Getty)

Burnley’s satisfaction with a rare away point was tempered in injury-time, however, when forward Ashley Barnes was sent off for a second bookable offence.

A game, with extremely high stakes, for the home side at least, offered little first half excitement, the final ball lacking in both penalty areas as the teams battled in the windy conditions.

Considering that victory for Hull would have done their survival hopes the power of good - guaranteeing they leapfrog above champions Leicester at the very least - the Tigers were particularly lacklustre.

It took until midway through the first half for Hull to have their first real sight of goal, as Shaun Maloney’s ball was headed away by Keane, under pressure from Dieumerci Mbokani, and Grosicki lobbed the loose ball over keeper Heaton and the crossbar.

Ashley Barnes is shown red (Getty)

Five minutes before the interval, a free-kick from the busy Grosicki also just missed the target and, in injury-time, the Polish midfielder swung over a cross which had team mates Ahmed Elmohamady and Mbokani competing with each other at the far post with the former heading wide.

Burnley seemed happy to attempt to hit their hosts on the counter-attack although that tactic can hardly be said to have been a success this season.

Sean Dyche’s side, so impressive at home, have collected just one point from an available 33 on their travels this season, scoring five goals in their 11 games, including just two from open play.

Here, in the first half at least, they rarely threatened to improve upon that statistical anomaly despite finding themselves in some promising positions.

Brady’s 38th minute free-kick was a rare moment of threat as it found defender Ben Mee at the far post and home goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic juggled the ball unconvincingly before Ashley Barnes headed behind from the rebound.

Michael Keane strikes from close range to equalise (Getty)

Hull opened the second half with slightly more urgency with Matt Lawton required to produce a fine piece of early defensive work to turn Tom Huddlestone’s cross away from goal at the far post.

And Andy Robertson’s pinpoint cross landed on the head of Mbokani who snatched at the effort and came nowhere near close to troubling Heaton.

Burnley finally picked up the challenge as Andre Gray and Brady combined neatly on their way into the home area before the ball was half cleared and Barnes sent a low, 25-yard drive whistling just past the left-hand post.

Closer yet, Ashley Westwood’s lovely, weighted pass sent Gray through just before the hour and the forward’s effort from the edge of the area missed the same post by an even smaller margin.

The game seemed to be opening up, a suspicion confirmed minutes later at the other end when Elmohamady’s intelligent ball to Mbokani was helped on to Grosicki who side-footed the ball just wide.

A series of corners followed for the home side, leading to Harry Maguire stabbing a half-chance wide and, crucially, the opening goal from the penalty spot.