Master overcame apprentice once more as Sam Allardyce continued his unbeaten Premier League record against his former sidekick Phil Brown. But, it was the loss of one of Brown's on-field generals, the midfielder George Boateng, to a contentious first-half red card, rather than a tactical triumph by the Blackburn manager, that had most to do with the outcome.

Martin Olsson embarrassed the otherwise excellent Boaz Myhill in the Hull goal just after the quarter-hour to seal Blackburn's seventh home win of the season and give Allardyce his second win in three attempts against Brown.

However, Hull's chances of building on the 2-1 weekend defeat of Manchester City, sealed by a stunning Boateng goal, diminished rapidly with his dismissal six minutes before the break. Although the Dutchman was late, it appeared a genuine clash of heads and as both men lay prostrate, the referee Lee Probert's reach for the red sparked mass remonstrations from those in amber shirts. After lengthy treatment, the 34-year-old was dismissed.

"To say it was a nonsense is an understatement," said Brown. "The problem I've got is that referees are told to take time to make the right decisions and he had two or three minutes whilst George was unconscious to make it."

Brown may appeal against the decision and found an ally in his old Bolton boss Allardyce: "Technically you could say that because he's led with his arm it's a sending-off but I don't think it's intentional."

Blackburn, whose form at Ewood Park contrasts starkly with their woeful away displays, reacted well to the shake-up in personnel and formation imposed by Allardyce following their tepid weekend defeat at Stoke, and are now eight points clear of the relegation places.

Moment of fortune, or moment of magic, the only goal came from the surging left-back Olsson, who took Morten Gamst Pedersen's chipped pass in his stride, repelled a bustling challenge from Craig Fagan, and guided into the far corner from an impossibly acute angle, the ball brushing Myhill on its way in.

If the dubious goals committee want to convene a meeting, however, they will find an imposing challenger in Allardyce. "It's going to be very harsh not to credit a piece of outstanding skill like that with a goal," he said. "It was top-drawer ability. He hit a hard, low shot. Yes, it hits the keeper and goes in the net but that ability warrants a goal for me."

While there was doubt as to the force with which Boateng's arm struck Pedersen, there was no doubt about the contact made by Paul McShane's lash at Probert, which greeted a booking for a challenge on El Hadji Diouf shortly after the break. It was a moment of petulance for which he should have walked.

McShane did exit midway through the second half as part of double substitution designed to give the 10 men more offensive capacity. However, it was Myhill that kept the deficit to one, the fisting out of a Brett Emerton drive and his contortions in diverting a point-blank Gaël Givet header on to the bar, the best of his stops.