Leeds United 2 Hull City 0 - Whites battle past Tigers to earn seventh straight league victory

Leeds United battled to a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Hull City in the Championship on Tuesday evening.

Marcelo Bielsa made one change for the visit of the Tigers as Kalvin Phillips returned to the line-up in place of Gjanni Alioski.

It was a quiet start to the evening as both sides were restricted to efforts from distance in the opening exchanges.

Helder Costa was the first to fire intent as he broke into the Hull area with some clever play only to see his shot blocked at the vital moment.

Tom Eaves headed into the side netting for the visitors with the travelling fans celebrating prematurely before Patrick Bamford also saw a chance fly wide of the mark.

With half-time closing in Pablo Hernandez had the best opportunity of the first period as he flicked past a City defender inside the box only to shoot over the bar from a tight angle.

It was as close as either team would come heading into the interval.

The game carried on in much the same way following the interval with neither side able to keep hold of the ball with stray passes and loose touches all over the pitch.

Kiko Casilla was forced into his first save of the night by Eaves as he flicked an effort on goal before Costa had the ball in the net from a Jack Harrison cross only for the flag to be raised.

The chance sparked Grant McCann's side into life as they enjoyed a spell of domination.

First Leonardo Lopes fell in the area under a Ben White challenge before Jarrod Bowen and Eaves again tested Casilla.

United responded as Harrison forced George Long into a good save as he powered a shot at goal before the deadlock was finally broken with 16 minutes remaining.

Bielsa's side enjoyed a huge slice of luck as Costa crossed low from the right only for retreating defender Jordy De Wijs to put the ball into his own net.

Leeds then doubled their with eight minutes to go in a slick move which was sparked by a stunning Casilla save.

The Spaniard flung himself to his left to keep out a thunderous Eaves header from a corner as Mateusz Klich broke quickly following a scramble in the six-yard box.

Klich picked out Bamford inside the area but the striker smashed the post before substitute Gjanni Alioski made no mistake with a brilliant finish from a tight angle.

It would prove to be enough for the Whites to seal their seventh straight league victory and hit the summit of the Championship table once more ahead of West Brom's game on Wednesday evening.

Leeds United: Casilla, Ayling, White, Berardi, Dallas, Phillips, Klich, Hernandez, Harrison (Alioski 69), Costa (Struijk 89), Bamford. Subs: Miazek, Douglas, Gotts, Clarke, Nketiah.

Hull City: Long, Lichaj, De Wijs, Burke, Batty, Eaves, Batty (Bowler 74), Eaves, Grosicki (Honeyman 90), Bowen, Elder (Lewis-Potter 86), Irvine, Lopes. Subs: Ingram, Tafazolli, Kingsley, Pennington.

Attendance: 35,200