Arsenal 1-2 Hull

By Pranav Soneji

Two goals in four second-half minutes from Geovanni and Daniel Cousin earned Hull a famous away win over Arsenal.

The home side took the lead in the 47th minute when Cesc Fabregas's shot found the net via Paul McShane's legs.

But Hull hit back through Geovanni's brilliant 25-yard strike on 61 minutes before Cousin's well-placed glancing header from Andy Dawson's corner.

William Gallas clattered the crossbar in the 83rd minute before a brilliant late Boaz Myhill save denied Fabregas.

The final whistle was met by stunned silence from Arsenal's disbelieving fans, while the small contingent of travelling fans will return to East Yorkshire with the knowledge their team have climbed to sixth spot in the Premier League after their third - and most important - win of the season.

Hull boss Phil Brown made two changes from the side that drew 2-2 with Everton last week, with recalls for midfielders George Boateng and Geovanni, while Peter Halmosi and Bernard Mendy dropped to the bench.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger made 11 changes from the youthful side that beat Sheffield United 6-0 in the Carling Cup on Tuesday.

With the guile of Fabregas in midfield, Arsenal ran their opponents ragged in the first 30 minutes, but for all their slick passing and interchanges, goals-scoring chances were conspicuous only by their absence.

Emmanuel Adebayor had the ball in the net - only for referee Alan Wiley to rule the goal out for a foul on McShane as the Togo striker climbed to reach a header on 15 minutes.

Hull left-back Dawson's brilliantly timed challenge brought Theo Walcott's menacing run to an end just as the winger was about to unleash a shot inside the 18-yard box.

For all their possession and creative intent, Arsenal were continually frustrated by the assistant referee's flag, which denied them on three occasions as they attempted to unlock a thoroughly obdurate and well-drilled Hull defence.

The closest they came to scoring was Emmanuel Eboue's deflected right-foot shot on the edge of the 18-yard box, while Michael Turner thwarted Adebayor with yet another well-timed challenge.

But Arsenal settled the nerves of the Emirates crowd when Walcott's cross diverted off the shin of Adebayor into the path of Fabregas, who bundled over as McShane desperately tried to prevent the ball from crossing the goal-line.

With the cushion of a one-goal lead, the Gunners began to run riot, with good goalscoring chances falling to Adebayor and Robin van Persie.

But Hull regained parity with a sensational strike from Geovanni, who skipped past a challenge on the left before drifting infield and smashing a right-foot shot that thundered into the top left-hand corner of Manuel Almunia's net.

It was the Brazilian's first goal for Hull since joining in the summer from Manchester City.

And Cousin put the visitors in front when he rose above Arsenal's defenders to majestically head Dawson's corner into the top right-hand corner of the net.

With 25 minutes left to rescue a point, Arsene Wenger switched to an attacking 4-2-4 formation, with Nicklas Bendtner replacing Eboue and Carlos Vela on for Walcott.

The changes nearly had their desired effect on 80 minutes, but Van Persie's strike just evaded Myhill's right-hand postl.

Gallas clattered the crossbar with a powerful header in the final five minutes, the rebound falling to Vela, but the Mexican could not direct the ball goalwards, much to the frustration of his team-mates.

With four minutes of injury time signalled, Myhill produced a brilliant save to parry Fabregas's powerful 20-yard strike to earn Hull their first ever victory against Arsenal.