Swansea’s play-off hopes dashed by draw at Hull

Swansea’s Sky Bet Championship play-off aspirations ended with a 1-1 draw at Hull.

The Welsh side cannot finish in the top six after they claimed just a point at the MKM Stadium.

Swansea, who went into the game on the back of four straight wins, fell behind after three minutes when defender Ben Cabango chested into his own net.

But they responded well from that setback and deserved to equalise through Luke Cundle’s curling finish six minutes before half-time.

Swansea, however, never kicked on after the break and found Hull in a belligerent mood.

Reaching the play-offs was always going to be a huge ask, but their recent form – 19 points from a possible 21 in their previous seven games – offered supporters hope of a dramatic late dash.

It was not to be, though, as Russell Martin’s men were damaged by Hull’s early goal.

Excellent midfielder Jean Michael Seri flighted a wonderful ball from the centre of the park towards an onrushing Harry Vaughan on the left.

Vaughan had too much space to charge into the penalty area and attempted to pass to Ozan Tufan on the edge of the six-yard box.

Cabango anticipated the danger, but the ball struck his chest and squirmed past unfortunate goalkeeper Andy Fisher.

Possession football

Swansea responded with an eye-catching spell of possession-based football.

One particular period of sustained pressure resulted in the visitors’ equaliser after 39 minutes.

Neat play on the left gave Jamie Paterson the opportunity to thread through Cundle in an inviting position. The Wolves loan signing struck first time and calmly sided-footed into the bottom right.

Given the manner in which the first half concluded, it was a surprise to see Hull dominate the early stages after the restart.

Many home fans thought they had scored a second after 50 minutes when Tufan’s low free-kick from distance hit the side-netting with Fisher well beaten.

Hull manager Liam Rosenior must have expected a Swansea rally, but it never happened until on the hour when Cundle’s central header drew a routine save off Karl Darlow.

And, if anything, the home side looked more likely to win the longer the game went on.

That was nearly the case after 72 minutes when Adama Traore smuggled into space on the right before teeing up Tufan on the edge of the penalty area. The Turkey international let rip with his right foot, but the ball hit the crossbar and ricocheted to safety.

That was as good as it got for both teams, with Swansea increasingly aware of their fate and Hull perfectly content to take a point from their final home game of the season.