SAINTS loanee Gaston Ramirez scored his first goal in almost a year to help Hull win 3-1 at Sunderland today.

The 24-year-old Uruguyan was making only his third Premier League start for the Tigers after joining them on a season long loan last August.

And it was Ramirez who netted Hull’s equaliser after Adam Johnson had opened the scoring for the hosts inside the first minute.

Ramirez’s last goal had come for Saints on December 29 last year in a 2-1 loss at Everton.

Victory lifted the Tigers out of the bottom three ahead of Sunday's home clash with fellow strugglers Leicester and handed manager Steve Bruce some welcome respite.

It came despite the most unpromising of openings as Johnson fired the the home side into a first-minute lead after Hull skipper Curtis Davies left his back-pass woefully short and then failed spectacularly to redeem himself as he attempted to shield the ball back to keeper Allan McGregor.

However, the visitors showed commendable powers of recovery and were back in it 12 minutes before the break when Ramirez's long-range effort took a wicked bounce in front of keeper Costel Pantilimon and flew inside the post.

Sunderland were furious not to be awarded penalties when first Alex Bruce and then Stephen Quinn appeared to handle inside the box in a late first-half flurry, and their misery was compounded after the break when James Chester and then substitute Nikica Jelavic struck, the latter again with the help of what looked like an unpunished handball offence, to wrap up the win.

Black Cats head coach Gus Poyet said: "Look, I have got a great life and I am not going to give the FA one penny [for talking about] the referee because he doesn't even need to have my respect, unfortunately.

"I am not going to give anything about him because he doesn't take anything from me or from this club. He needs to look after himself.

"For me, if the hands are not next to your body in the penalty box, it's a penalty, see you later, and the last one before the third goal is a handball as well from Quinn in the middle of the park.

"Until the penalty incidents it was a normal game, I don't think there was too much in it.

“There were two strange goals in the game and after the penalty incidents,the game changed completely, the atmosphere in the stadium and the emotions of the players.

"If you are there and you play and you care it's difficult to cope with those decisions, so it was a little bit strange after.

“We spent too much energy thinking why they were not given and not playing the game.”