Callum Robinson scored the only goal as Hull City were narrowly beaten by relegation rivals Cardiff City.
The experienced forward’s deflected volley seven minutes into the second half settled a tight affair in South Wales.
The Tigers drop below the Bluebirds into 21st position, one place and three points above the bottom three with 12 matches remaining.
Rubén Sellés made two changes from the impressive 1-0 victory at promotion-chasing Sunderland, recalling Regan Slater and handing Fenerbahçe loanee Lincoln his full debut.
Steven Alzate was named on the bench, although there was no place for on-loan Aston Villa forward Louie Barry, who was withdrawn against the Black Cats through injury.
Goal difference was all that separated the sides at kick-off, and there was nothing between the teams, with no attempts at goal, in an evenly contested opening quarter of an hour.
Like at the Stadium of Light, the Tigers were forced into an early alteration as Eliot Matazo went down with an apparent knee issue and was replaced by Gustavo Puerta.
The first two shots both came from Robinson, dragging one wide from 18 yards after checking inside Slater and curling the other, also with his left foot, straight at Ivor Pandur.
Charlie Hughes was perhaps fortunate not to be penalised for a penalty-box challenge on Robinson, while Cardiff captain Callum O’Dowda’s speculative long-range drive was blocked by a lunging Lincoln.
Despite enjoying two-thirds of the possession, the Tigers only mustered two first-half efforts, both of which were blocked – Puerta’s curler charged down by Perry Ng and Kyle Joseph’s shot stopped by Will Fish.
A Yousef Salech strike in first-half injury time from inside the area was beaten away by Pandur as an uneventful opening period, unsurprisingly, finished scoreless.
Possession
67%Shots
4Shots On Target
1Corners
3Fouls
92
0
Cards
2
0
A flying Pandur pushed away Ng’s curling 22-yard free-kick, but Omer Riza’s side scored from the resulting corner on 52 minutes.
Chris Willock’s cross was cleared only as far as Robinson, whose right-footed volley deflected off Slater and nestled in the bottom corner past a stranded Pandur.
Alzate, João Pedro and Abu Kamara were introduced in a triple change on the hour, with Slater, Joseph and Lincoln making way.
Pedro almost connected with Puerta’s floated cross 18 minutes from time, with the Tigers suffering more injury misfortune when Sean McLoughlin was unable to continue – Nordin Amrabat replacing him.
The Tigers’ best opportunity was well worked and fell to Jones with six minutes left – the vice-captain directing his header from Abu Kamara’s accurate first-time centre too close to keeper Ethan Horvath.
Cardiff were content to defend their lead, offering little attacking threat after the goal, but the Tigers failed to seriously trouble the Bluebirds’ backline – Gelhardt firing a fruitless final shot comfortably wide.
Cardiff: Horvath, Rinomhota, Fish, Ng, O'Dowda, Mannsverk, Chambers (Bagan 78'), Willock (Davies 63'), Robinson (Robertson 63'), Ashford (Colwill 85'), Salech (El Ghazi 78')
Subs: Méïté, Turner, Lawlor, Giles
Hull City: Pandur, Coyle, Jones, Hughes, McLoughlin (Amrabat 73'), Slater (Alzate 61'), Matazo (Puerta 20'), Lincoln (Kamara 61'), Gelhardt, Joseph (Pedro 61'), Crooks
Subs: Egan, Burns, Drameh, Lo-Tutala
Extended highlights of Cardiff City vs Hull City are available to watch on Tigers Plus
