Hull City hammered Cardiff City 4-0 in Wales this afternoon to climb to 11th in the Premier League and put their opponents into even deeper relegation trouble.

Nikica Jelavic scored either side of half time to add to Tom Huddlestone's opener, before Jake Livermore completed the rout with a classy strike on 67 minutes.

The Tigers are now six points clear of the bottom three following only their third away win of the season, while struggling Cardiff remain in 19th place and three points adrift of safety.

Below, Sports Mole analyses whether the result was reflective of the action at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Match statistics

Cardiff
Shots: 21
On target: 5
Possession: 56%
Corners: 9
Fouls: 4

Hull
Shots: 10
On target: 6
Possession: 44%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 11

Was the result fair?

Cardiff started the brighter of the two sides and were perhaps unfortunate to go behind. When their chances dried up after the interval, their possession was meaningless as Hull were absolutely ruthless on the break, executing Steve Bruce's counter-attacking plan flawlessly. The statistics in this match are misleading as the visitors were easily a few goals better than their opponents.

Cardiff's performance

This was an incredibly worrying afternoon for Cardiff. Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer has his team passing the ball with reasonable style in midfield, but they were a shambles at the back. New central defender Cala looked far more comfortable in the Hull area than he did in his own on his Premier League debut. They had more of the ball and more shots than the visitors and although Magnus Eikrem picked the rare hole in the Tigers defence, finishing throughout the team, from the front pairing in particular, was lacking confidence. David Marshall has saved them on numerous occasions this season but he was helpless to prevent any of the four goals today. It is clear that many of the Bluebirds do not know their roles in the team and Solskjaer needs to settle on a regular side and instil some fight and organisation into his players before it is too late.

Hull's performance

The perfect away display. Hull were disciplined and organised across the midfield and defence, with centre-backs Curtis Davies and Alex Bruce heading clear almost everything that came into the box. They made vital blocks at important times and although Hull's attack will take the headlines, they were just as good at the other end. They were happy to keep eight men behind the ball, but when they had the opportunity, they countered with pace and quality. Three of their goals came on the break, and two from a Jelavic and Shane Long partnership which continues to thrive. What will also please Bruce is that their standards did not drop. Even at 4-0, runners were being tracked and the discipline remained. When Cardiff did break their ranks, Allan McGregor produced three great saves on his return to the team.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Nikica Jelavic:

You get what you pay for. While Cardiff's wheeling and dealing approach to the winter transfer window saw them bring in seven players in January, Hull and Bruce went for quality over quantity and that was the lesson of the day for the hosts. Jelavic showed them exactly what £6m can buy you with two excellent first-time finishes, and he perhaps could have had a couple more goals. He is shaking off his ring rust, that's for sure. His and Long's partnership will probably keep Hull up.

Biggest gaffe

On his full Premier League debut, Eikrem learned just how severely a mistake can be punished at this level. His nonchalant pass inside his own half was intercepted by Jelavic and although, after exchanging passes with Long, the Croatian could not capitalise himself, Huddlestone did moments later with a goal which emanated from the Norwegian's sloppy mistake.

Referee performance

Howard Webb will probably have been relieved to have been taken out of the spotlight this week having been questioned for some contentious, Liverpool-angering decisions in recent weeks. His afternoon in Wales was much quieter, although there were still some debatable calls. Cardiff may feel that they should have had a first-half penalty when Jelavic bundled into Kenwyne Jones from behind.

What next?

Cardiff: The Championship? Quite possibly, if Solskjaer does not improve them, particularly defensively, as soon as possible. It doesn't get an easier for them, either, with a trip to Tottenham Hotspur next up.

Hull: Bruce has bemoaned the fixture schedule which means that they have only two days rest before they host Brighton & Hove Albion in an FA Cup fifth-round replay on Monday evening.