Callum Robinson scored his 12th goal of the season as Cardiff claimed a much-needed 1-0 Championship victory over fellow strugglers Hull in the Welsh capital.
The Republic of Ireland striker broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute after neither side had really threatened in a cagey first half as moved Cardiff up two places in the table and six points clear of the relegation zone.
Both teams knew there was a lot at stake. Hull lost Eliot Matazo to an injury after only 20 minutes, while Cardiff found a way to press forward and create chances.
Twice in the space of as many minutes, Cardiff top scorer Robinson was given the chance to shoot from inside the box, but on both occasions his left-footed efforts were comfortably dealt with by Ivor Pandur in the Hull goal.
Some neat interplay between Robinson and Andy Rinomhota down the right flank gave the Ireland striker his first chance, but his shot went inches past the right-hand post. His second was well held by Pandur.
Hull moved the ball well from side to side but failed to get it forward often enough. They ended the first half with two shots, both of which were blocked outside the box.
The best chance of the half came in the third minute of added time after Cian Ashford had sped from halfway into the Hull box before crossing for Yousef Salech.
He controlled the ball, twisted and fired on target to force Pandur to make the best save of the game.
Cardiff started the second half brightly and a great run by Ashford into the heart of the Hull defence forced Regan Slater to haul him down on the edge of the box. Slater picked up a yellow card for his efforts as Perry Ng lined up the resulting free-kick.
Ng’s shot went over the wall and forced Pandur into a full-length diving save.
From the corner Hull were able to clear their lines, but Chris Willock crossed the ball back into the danger zone and Salech made a big enough nuisance of himself to force the defence to clear only as far Robinson near the penalty spot.
Robinson took the ball early, hit it on the volley and found the bottom right-hand corner to notch his 12th goal of the season.
Hull’s best chance of the game came in the 72nd minute after they had broken from the halfway line down the left wing.
The cross came in from Gustavo Puerta and Joao Pedro missed making contact with it a yard out from gaol as he threw himself at the ball with nobody home.
One saving grace for Hull was that relegation-rivals Stoke failed to make up any ground in their game in hand at home with Middlesbrough. The Potters remain two points ahead of Hull in 20th with Cardiff now up to 19th.
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