Estupinan on the spot as Hull hit back to hold Bristol City

Oscar Estupinan’s last-minute penalty earned Hull a 1-1 draw at home to Bristol City.

Substitute Fally Mayulu’s 84th-minute strike put the visitors on course for what would have been a deserved victory.

The Robins debutant, a summer signing from Rapid Vienna, cashed in on an awful blunder from Matty Jacob before planting the ball into the left corner.

But Hull had the final word as Keith Stroud adjudged Joe Williams to have fouled Marvin Mehlem and Estupinan made no mistake with a precise spot-kick.

Bristol City were the better side but Tim Walter’s Tigers began purposefully, with Regan Slater forcing Max O’Leary into a smart save at his near post.

The hosts came even closer to scoring after 11 minutes when Abdulkadir Omur’s low free-kick from the left caused confusion inside Bristol City’s box. The resulting skirmish saw Jacob’s half-volley expertly parried to safety by O’Leary.

Bristol City’s goalkeeper showed even greater dexterity moments later when Ryan Giles’ perfect cross found Estupinan inside the six-yard box.

Estupinan should have scored but his stabbed effort from a central position was beaten away by O’Leary, who impressively stood his ground.

But the visitors grew into the game – most noticeably when signing Sinclair Armstrong was given the ball as his sheer physicality at times threatened to overwhelm Hull’s backline.

Bristol City’s cause was also aided by the occasional defensive gaffe, one of which nearly gifted Anis Mehmeti a goal approaching half-time.

Mehmeti wriggled his way into a good position on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, but Ivor Pandur reacted well to snuff out the danger.

Liam Manning’s side kept up the revs after the interval and came close to scoring after 50 minutes when careless defending allowed Mehmeti a clean sight on goal from a central position. The Albania international’s strike was goalbound but Jacob did well to deflect the shot onto the crossbar.

Man-of-the-match Mehmeti was a continual nuisance and crafted another decent chance when his cross caught Jacob in a bad position facing his own goal.

The Hull defender’s header could have gone anywhere, but the ball luckily floated just wide.

Despite their clear faults, Walter will, however, take optimism from new signing Liam Millar’s impact from off the substitutes’ bench.

Millar brought Hull back into the game and created a good chance when his skidding cross from the left evaded Estupinan by a stud’s length.

Any hope of a late Hull rally seemed to have evaporated once Mayulu struck, but Estupinan’s penalty ensured a share of the spoils.

The managers

Hull’s Tim Walter:

“We need more players in, but they will come. My job is to train them hard and to get the best from them. They showed courage and that they have big balls. It is a short time to get so many players in, but we are working hard.

“It was good from the stands – very energetic – but not for us at the beginning because in the first half we created chances but not with the possession I wanted.

“We need more courage to play and more ball speed and we didn’t have it. We changed a bit in the second half and it was better, but unfortunately we conceded a goal.

“At the end we showed character. That’s OK for today, but not for me. I want to win all the time – it’s all about winning.

“It’s not all about high attacking. You have some situations to stay strong and that’s what we did – especially in the second part of the second half.

“It’s all about character and mentality. We want to do it together, to create a family mentality. The fans did a great job but we also have to do our jobs.”

Bristol City’s Liam Manning:

The initial emotions are frustration and annoyance of conceding so late.

“But there are so many positives to take and that leaves us in a good a spot.

“They probably had two terrific chances in the first 10 minutes, but we did a really good job in shifting the momentum in our favour.

“We now have greater strength in depth than last season. There are bits to work on but there’s a lot of positives.

“Look at what we’ve added in the summer. I thought we had a lot of similar profiles last season that made it difficult to change the game, but now it’s different.”