JAMES Chester's header and Nikica Jelavic's injury time strike ensured a belated Christmas present for Hull City manager Steve Bruce as the Tigers roared back to winning ways.
Two second-half goals helped lift his side out of the relegation zone as City came back from a goal down at Sunderland to pick up their first win in 11 attempts.
Having gone behind to an awful opening-minute Adam Johnson goal, Gaston Ramirez levelled proceedings before Chester's header and Jelavic's late goal helped relieve the pressure on the Tigers.
Going into the match Bruce made four changes to his side, with Liam Rosenior in for the injured Andrew Robertson, while Robbie Brady, Stephen Quinn and Sone Aluko came in for Jelavic, Abel Hernandez and the suspended Jake Livermore.
Freshening up his side, Bruce hoped for a bright opening from fresh legs. He got the exact opposite.
In truth, City couldn't have made a worse start to such an important fixture. Curtis Davies, who has struggled to replicate last season's form, was the guilty party as he came up with a belated Christmas gift for Sunderland.
Badly under-hitting his back pass to Allan McGregor, Davies allowed Adam Johnson to nip in front of him and after the striker rounded McGregor the ball was nestled inside the back of the net before some fans had even take their seats.
Needing some positivity after a dismal run of results, the pantomime defending left the Tigers with a hill to climb. It could have been worse had Rosenior's valuable out-stretched boot not diverted Sebastian Larsson's shot away for a corner.
The shock of that opening behind them, City took 20 minutes, but did finally settle into the game and bringing up the half hour mark they dragged themselves level thanks to a piece of magic by Ramirez.
Taking the ball on the edge of the box after god build-up play, Ramirez twisted and turned on the edge of the box before firing home. It was a goal City needed, but with parity restored, rather than build on the goal the Tigers regressed and were lucky to not concede a penalty after a handball in the box by Alex Bruce.
Riding their luck in the closing stages of the first half, City went in at the break level and returned for the second 45 minutes knowing victory was there for the taking. Playing like they had that belief, the start to the second-half was in stark contrast to the first as the Tigers took the lead through Chester's header.
Beating two defenders to a corner, the Chester's bullet header brought what's become a rare smile of late to the face of Bruce.
City were good value for their lead and never looked like surrendering it as the hosts huffed and puffed their way through the game until Jelavic broke away in the dying seconds to seal the win.
