Liam Rosenior cherished a “big three points” after the 1-0 win at home to Preston propelled Hull into the Sky Bet Championship play-off places.
Jaden Philogene’s exceptional strike after 68 minutes was the difference and the former Aston Villa midfielder was unquestionably the stand-out player in a tight encounter.
Rosenior said: “I think for 80 minutes we completely controlled and dominated the game.
“We were the better team and came out on the right side of the result.
“We were the team who wanted to play football and I think the right side won on the day.
“Hopefully it gives the players confidence we can win games consistently at this level.
“It was a big three points and we showed different sides to our game. You need to be able to see things out and we did that.”
Philogene emerged the match-winner, yet he should have scored in the first half when Jean Michael Seri put him through one-on-one with Freddie Woodman.
But the England Under-21 international had far too many touches and was hustled out of possession.
Hull had only won once before at home this season and the natives grew restless when Preston enjoyed a good spell of possession after the restart.
The visitors also had a decent penalty shout waved away when Alfie Jones tangled with Alan Browne inside the box.
Philogene remained the game’s domineering presence, though, and scored his third goal of the season with a thumping low hit that screwed off the right post and into the bottom corner.
Rosenior said: “It was a brilliant individual goal and that’s what Jaden is capable of.
“He was so disappointed in the dressing room at half-time when he didn’t score but we got around him as a group and said, ‘The next one will go in’
“We had a huge turnaround in the summer and it has taken time – we’ve got a young team – but this gives the players confidence and composure that we’re on the right track.
“We look more solid and we look like we’re not going to concede. I felt really comfortable with the team.
“It’s nice when the players look at the table and see us in the top six, but we have just got to keep working hard because anything can happen in this league.”
Preston’s early-season promise has been dampened by a troubling run of form.
They are now without a win in seven, but manager Ryan Lowe was convinced fortune was not on North End’s side at the MKM Stadium.
He said: “We tried everything to not only get one point, but to get three points.
“We definitely deserved something from the game, but we can’t have their best player have that moment – we didn’t quite deal with the goal as well as we should have done.
“It’s hard to get back from that because any team in the Championship can see a game out.
“I couldn’t have asked for anymore, really. I thought a fair result was a draw – two football teams trying to lock horns – but we could have done better with the goal.
“The lads have given us everything, but we lacked a little quality in the top end. We’ve just got to make sure we learn quickly from it.”
The game was refereed by fourth official Martin Woods after Lewis Smith was taken ill just before the match.
Lowe was, however, judicial with his comments about Browne’s penalty shout.
He said: “We feel let down by a decision which has cost us.
“I’ve got to be careful what I say. The defender’s made a rick because he let the ball bounce and maybe if Browny stays down we get it.
“It’s frustrating as we were building up momentum at the time.”
Trust the process, says Pickford after penalty shootout heroics for England
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford preached "trust the process" after his penalty shootout heroics against Switzerland.
Pickford got down low to keep out Switzerland's first spot-kick, denying Manuel Akanji.
While the 30-year-old could not prevent the Swiss scoring from their next three attempts, England stayed perfect through the shootout, with Trent Alexander-Arnold holding his nerve to send Gareth Southgate's team into the Euro 2024 semi-finals.
Pickford has now saved four of the 14 penalties he has faced in shootouts at major tournaments, twice as many as all other England goalkeepers combined saved between 1990 and 2012 (two out of 36).
Images shared widely on social media showed Pickford's water bottle had a list of each of Switzerland's penalty takers, and a direction in which he should dive.
And the Everton shot-stopper explained how he had to adapt his routine slightly in Dusseldorf, though he still trusted his process regardless.
He told ITV Sport: "The referee didn't let me do my usual process so I've had to adapt. I like to give the lads the ball, it helps me with a bit of focus, and staying calm, but I could only do it on the first one – luckily I saved it!
"I trust my process, what I do, with my mentality, that I'm going to save at least one for the lads.
"But massive respect to the lads that stood up and took one and to score in the way they did – huge credit.
Two lads making their major tournament debuts in this tournament, and then Bukayo [Saka] coming off the back of 2021 and stepping up – it shows the character in our squad.
"We've got a quick turnaround but we're still here, and that's what we want and what the nation wants."
For just the second time in their 10th shootout at a major tournament, England scored every single one of their penalties in the shootout (5/5), also doing so against Spain at Euro 1996 (4/4).
Penalty shootout victory over Brazil was winning in Uruguayan style, says Bielsa
Uruguay showed their character and the national team's "style" in their penalty shootout win over Brazil, so says Marcelo Bielsa.
Fifteen-time Copa America champions Uruguay progressed to the semi-finals at Brazil's expense with a 4-2 victory in the shootout after a 0-0 draw in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Uruguay, who have quickly adapted to Bielsa's full-throttle attacking approach, had to play out the last 20 minutes with 10 men after Nahitan Nandez was sent off for a lunge on Rodrygo.
It meant the usual offensive tactics had to make way for defensive ones, though from Nandez's red card onwards, Uruguay limited Brazil to just two attempts.
"Everything that happens, happens Uruguayan style, because the players are the ones that give their all to the team," Bielsa said.
"It was a match with very little goal opportunities, highly contested, very close, even with very little changes in possession.
"When we were one man down, we decided to dedicate ourselves to defending in our half.
"So holding on to that result as the Uruguayan team did shows the profile of Uruguayan football.
"They were very calm in the penalty shootout that demands not only accuracy but also character."
Uruguay have now kept three successive clean sheets, while they limited Brazil to 0.58 expected goals (xG), and their defensive resilience has pleased Bielsa.
"I am a bit more drawn to the offensive than the defensive game, but in a match that was as tight as this one, we created one more opportunity than our opponent and we defended well," Bielsa added.
"I do think that defensively, not because I achieved it but because the players are inherently good at defending, that they are very good at keeping a clean sheet."
This is the first time Uruguay have reached the semi-finals of the Copa America since the last time they won the trophy in 2011.
La Celeste had endured three consecutive quarter-final appearances without advancing, with two of those being decided by penalties (2019 and 2021).
Uruguay will face in-form Colombia, who hammered Paraguay 5-0, in the last four.
Dorival Junior urges patience with Brazil's rebuild after Copa America exit
Dorival Junior has asked for time to complete his revamp of the Brazil national team after the Selecao's Copa America exit.
Brazil, nine-time Copa America champions, lost 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw with 10-man Uruguay in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Eder Militao and Douglas Luiz were unsuccessful from 12 yards, as a disappointing and often disjointed campaign for Brazil, who were without the suspended Vinicius Junior, came to a halt.
Dorival left out some big names for the tournament, while Neymar was absent through injury, and the coach, who was appointed in January, has reiterated the rebuild will require some patience.
He said: "We are undergoing a very important renovation or reinvention of this team.
"I have only coached this team for eight matches and this is a process that we have to go through.
"We are aware of the difficulties we will come across throughout the path, but we now lost a match in the knockouts and that wasn't what we expected."
Brazil are sixth in the South American qualification standings for the 2026 World Cup, and Dorival knows the Selecao must sharpen up.
"We have a lot of room to continue growing, evolving, improving and our main objective now is to qualify for the World Cup," he continued.
"Right now we are sixth in the standings, we are not comfortable with that."
Dorival did, however, point to Uruguay's rise back to form under Marcelo Bielsa as evidence that long-term projects can come to fruition.
"I think the Uruguayan national team has a pattern, a very well-defined pattern," he said.
"They have been working for a long time together. They had some problems at first, they corrected them.
"Now they are finding great results. I think we will achieve all that as well, not a doubt about it, but we need some time to make such corrections.
"We had some issues at the beginning of the tournament. I think we corrected plenty of mistakes.
"It is tough given the period of time that we had to work to try to speed up the process. I think we'll have some more time in the future."
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