Hull City v Brentford: unbeaten home runs, draws and penalties

The fixture and its two records

This Premier League meeting was between Hull City, from Kingston upon Hull in East Yorkshire, and Brentford, from west London. According to the Guardian, it ended level. Hull took the lead in the 24th minute through a penalty scored by Oli McBurnie. The kick was given after Aaron Hickey brought down Tim Iroegbunam while trying to hook the ball clear. The Guardian's headline credits Ouattara with the goal that earned Brentford a point. The report extract does not give the minute or the manner of that equaliser, so neither is known here.

Two records came out of the afternoon, and at first sight they seem to point in opposite directions. Hull have still not lost at home in the league this season, and they have still not won in their last seven matches. The fixture is a useful way into a basic point about league football: a draw has its own value, and it sits between the two outcomes that people tend to treat as the only ones that matter.

Origins of the meeting

Hull City and Brentford are both long-established members of the English Football League pyramid. For much of their history, both played below the top division. Most of their past meetings therefore came in the second and third tiers rather than in the Premier League. Hull have had spells in the top flight before. Brentford have spent several recent seasons there after coming up through the Championship. A league meeting between them at this level is a recent development, not a long-running rivalry.

The source does not say how Hull came to be in this season's Premier League. Nor does it give the previous results between the clubs, so this article does not describe either. What can be said is that a fixture like this is a regular product of promotion and relegation. Every season, clubs move between divisions, and pairings that were once routine in the Championship show up on the top-flight calendar.

How draws and penalties work today

The points system. The Premier League gives three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat. English football used to give two points for a win. The move to three was meant to make a win worth clearly more than two draws, so that teams would have a reason to chase victories. The side effect is that a draw is now a mixed result: better than losing, but worth only a third of a win.

Unbeaten and winless runs. An unbeaten run counts every match a team has not lost, which means wins and draws together. A winless run counts every match a team has not won, which means draws and defeats together. Draws belong to both groups. So a team that keeps drawing can extend an unbeaten run and a winless run on the same day. The two records the Guardian describes for Hull are not a contradiction. They come straight from how each streak is defined. A home record also covers only matches at a club's own ground, while a run of games without a win usually counts home and away fixtures together, so the two may cover different sets of matches.

The penalty kick. Under the Laws of the Game, written by the International Football Association Board, a penalty is given when a defending player commits a direct free kick offence inside their own penalty area. Tripping or tackling an opponent carelessly, recklessly or with excessive force are among those offences. The key point is that trying to play the ball is not a defence. A player can be making a genuine attempt to clear the ball and still commit an offence if the challenge catches the opponent rather than the ball. That is the kind of situation the Guardian describes, with a defender trying to hook the ball away. In the Premier League, the on-field referee's decision can be checked by video assistant referees, who can recommend a review if they see a clear and obvious error. The source does not say whether a review happened in this case.

The tactical problem. A team protecting a home record and a team trying to end a winless run face a common question: how much risk is worth taking to turn one point into three? The points system rewards taking that risk, while the fear of losing pushes teams towards caution. Which way the sides leaned here is not reported in the material available.

Common misconceptions

The first misconception is that "unbeaten" means "winning". It does not. An unbeaten record can be made up mostly of draws, and it says nothing about how many points a team has collected compared with its rivals.

The second is that a winless run means a team keeps losing. A run without a win can include no defeats at all if every match in it was drawn.

The third is about penalties: that a defender who goes for the ball cannot be penalised. The law looks at what the challenge did to the opponent, not only at what the defender meant to do.

The fourth is that home and overall records describe the same thing. They count different sets of fixtures and can tell quite different stories about the same team.

Where to look next

Readers who want to check the details of this fixture should go to the original Guardian match report, which this article draws on and which covers the match more fully than the extract used here. The rules on fouls and penalties are set out in the International Football Association Board's Laws of the Game, mainly Law 12 on fouls and misconduct and Law 14 on the penalty kick. The Premier League's own handbook explains how points, ranking and tie-breakers are applied. For the wider context of how clubs move between divisions, the English Football League's published regulations on promotion and the play-offs are the main reference.

Frequently asked questions

How can Hull be unbeaten at home but without a win in seven games?

An unbeaten home record counts only home league matches that were not lost. A winless run counts recent matches, home and away, that were not won. Draws fall into both groups at once, so a draw extends both records together. According to the Guardian, the draw with Brentford had exactly that effect for Hull City: their home record stayed intact while the run without a win reached seven matches.

How many points does a draw earn in the Premier League?

A draw earns one point for each side. A win earns three and a defeat earns none. English football used to give two points for a win. Moving to three was meant to make a victory worth clearly more than two draws, so that teams would have a reason to attack rather than settle. As a result, a draw protects a team's record but adds relatively little to its points total.

Why was a penalty given against Brentford?

The Guardian reports that Aaron Hickey brought down Tim Iroegbunam while trying to hook the ball away, and Oli McBurnie scored the 24th-minute penalty that followed. Under the Laws of the Game, a careless trip or tackle inside a team's own penalty area is punished with a penalty kick. This applies even when the defender was genuinely trying to play the ball rather than the opponent.

Can a defender be penalised for trying to play the ball?

Yes. Law 12 of the Laws of the Game judges a challenge by whether it was careless, reckless or used excessive force, not by what the player intended. A defender who goes for the ball but trips or knocks over an opponent can still commit a direct free kick offence. If that happens inside the defender's own penalty area, the referee awards a penalty kick to the attacking side.

Who scored Brentford's equaliser against Hull?

The Guardian's headline says Ouattara earned the point for Brentford. The extract of the report used for this article does not give the minute, the way the goal was scored or any other details of the equaliser, so those are not known here. Readers who want a full account of the goal should read the Guardian's complete match report, which covers the fixture in more depth.

Sources and further reading

• The Guardian: match report on Hull City v Brentford in the Premier League, the source for every fact stated here about the fixture
• International Football Association Board: the Laws of the Game, especially Law 12 on fouls and Law 14 on penalty kicks
• Premier League: the official handbook explaining points, rankings and competition rules
• English Football League: regulations on promotion, relegation and the play-off system