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| Hull coach Phil Brown hails victory at White Hart Lane [GALLO/GETTY] |
Hull City continued their incredible start to the season in the English Premier League, beating Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane to go third behind Chelsea and Liverpool in the table.
The northeast side, given little chance of staying up in their first season in the top flight, claimed their second away win in a row in London after beating Arsenal 2-1 last week.
Brazilian Geovanni curled in an early free kick to pile the pressure on Spurs boss Juande Ramos on Sunday, whose team are rooted bottom of the table in their worst start to a season since 1912.
Manchester City looked to be cruising against title contenders Liverpool before a Fernando Torres double and a strike from Dirk Kuyt in the dying seconds completed a stirring fightback.
Chelsea made light of their injury problems to beat Aston Villa 2-0, while Gianfranco Zola lost his first league game as West Ham manager with a 3-1 reverse at home to Bolton Wanderers.
Struggling Everton and Newcastle United drew 2-2 at Goodison Park, as Portsmouth beat Stoke City 2-1 at home.
No let-up for Spurs
Tottenham's early-season crisis shows no sign of easing as Hull won for the second week running in north London after their stunning 2-1 victory at Arsenal last week.
The only goal of the game came after eight minutes when Geovanni, scorer of a long-range howitzer against Arsenal, curled a sensational free kick into the top corner.
Tottenham struck the woodwork twice before the break and mounted sustained pressure after it but Hull hung on.
Spurs have just two points from their opening seven matches, equalling their worst start to a season.
City throw it away
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| Kuyt puts away the winner [GALLO/GETTY] |
With Liverpool trailing 2-0 at half time to goals by Stephen Ireland and Javier Garrido it looked like Chelsea were heading for a two-point cushion in the early title race.
However Torres, who hardly got a kick in the first half, burst into life after the break.
He halved the deficit with a simple finish after a slick move that ended with an Alvaro Arbeloa cross.
Robinho should have put City 3-1 ahead but instead the home side had Pablo Zabaleta sent off for a bad tackle on Xabi Alonso before Torres headed in an equaliser.
The Spaniard could have completed his hat-trick when he wasted a glorious chance from Robbie Keane's cross but it did not prove too costly as Kuyt slotted a dramatic winner.
The Netherlands winger ended his 11-month domestic goal drought after picking up the loose ball when Torres' shot was deflected by City captain Richard Dunne.
"Kuyt can score a lot of goals in the Champions League, but it's good he's doing it now in the Premier League because he is one of the key players and his work rate is amazing," Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said.
Villa outclassed
Chelsea, held 0-0 in Romania by CFR Cluj on Wednesday in the Champions League, brushed aside injuries to the likes of Michael Essien and Didier Drogba to outclass Villa.
Joe Cole combined superbly with Frank Lampard before thumping a shot past Brad Friedel and they could have had five before the break as they dominated a Villa side who began the day in the top four.
Anelka doubled the lead before halftime when he tapped in from close range after a Friedel save from Michael Ballack.
"I thought Chelsea were brilliant today," Villa manager Martin O'Neill said. "We would have had to have our best players playing at their peak to compete. It was a harsh lesson.
"I really thought this morning that we would win the game."
Kinnear gets point
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| Fellaini celebrates with Louis Saha [GALLO/GETTY] |
Newcastle United ended a five-match losing sequence when they recovered from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Everton in Joe Kinnear's first match since being named interim manager.
Mikel Arteta put Everton a goal to the good when he stroked home a penalty after Nicky Butt had brought down Leighton Baines.
Marouane Fellaini doubled the lead as he prodded home a cross from Baines for his first goal for the club.
Steven Taylor clawed a goal back seconds before the half time whistle, before Damien Duff made it 2-2 seconds after the break.
Little and large
England strikers Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe put on a little and large show at Fratton Park to beat promoted Stoke City 2-1.
The gangly Crouch opened the scoring with an overhead kick from Defoe's cross before Ricardo Fuller pulled one back for the northern side.
Diminutive strike partner Defoe shot home two minutes later to leave Stoke with just one win from their opening seven Premier League matches.
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