Curtis Davies and Darren Bent react to controversial Hull City v Sunderland AFC flashpoint | OneFootball

The referee played a role in the pivotal point of the match.

Sky Sports pundits Curtis Davies and Darren Bent both believe that Hull City are at least partially culpable for the controversial goal that they conceded against Sunderland, on Sunday.

The MKM Stadium played host to a very tight affair over the weekend. Shots rattled the crossbar, efforts were disallowed and, eventually, only one goal separated the two sides - quite a contentious one too.

In the 63rd minute, Hull tried to work a short corner out to Xavier Simons, who was on the edge of the Sunderland box. The ball was played to him, but, when it was, referee Bobby Madley was practically standing on his toes. This forced the Hull number eight into an awkward position and he was dispossessed.

A matter of seconds later, Wilson Isidor was up the other end of the pitch, after a scruffy driving run, and managed to chip the ball over Ivor Pandur to give the Black Cats a 1-0 lead that they would hold onto for the rest of the game.

The City players were not happy about Madley's alleged interference in the build up to them conceding, but the goal was given.

The Tigers' boss, Tim Walter, revealed after the game that the referee apologised to him after the game for the incident, but the German said that this was of no help to him. Walter's counterpart, Regis Le Bris, told Sky Sports that he couldn't understand why the opposition were unhappy with the goal.

Curtis Davies and Darren Bent react to controversial Wilson Isidor goal vs Hull

The two pundits think that the home side have to take some level of responsibility for the goal that they conceded against the Black Cats on Saturday.

Speaking after the game on Sky Sports, Davies said: "I think I'd have got booked as well, to be honest (if he was playing for Hull, because of their frustration with the goal).

"Listen, the referee, it doesn't hit him, so I totally understand he can't stop play. But it's a set-piece routine, he clearly gets in the way, Simons makes the decision to try and turn back out...

"We want referees to be in good positions. We want them to see holding, we want them to see grappling; we want them to see everything because there's no VAR. So, therefore, he takes up that position thinking that the ball is going to go into the box.

"Once it's played short, he hasn't really got the time to react to get out of the way, unless he runs straight backwards. But he doesn't know that a man is there, he doesn't get a man on shout like a player would, so ,unfortunately, he's in the way.

"It's for the player to then make a different decision, but, again, we keep speaking about this - the stop start from Isidor on Drameh - and it's a brilliant finish."

Bent believes that the blame falls partially on Madley for his position, but also on the Hull midfielder. "Simons: you're experienced enough, you understand your role there.

"Even if you're doing a set play and have been going through it every day of the week, it gets to a point where it doesn't always go to plan. So if that option is not on, then play the simple pass. Take it across your body, roll it to the Hull player, and then you try something else.

"But the fact that he's still tried to get it onto his Cruyff turn and he's given the ball away, yes I've got a bit of sympathy for them, but also, you're experienced enough to know that he's made a mistake there. He's tried to be too clever, got caught, and he's been punished for it."

Poor defending to blame for Wilson Isidor goal

When you look at the replay, and see how far away from goal the French forward is when he has no City defenders in front of him, it's bonkers. There were no players back for the home side ready to help to defend a counter-attack. Drameh was the furthest player back for Hull, and he wasn't far off the edge of Sunderland's box.

The game was 0-0 with more than 25 minutes to go, and yet they decided to all go forward. If they had someone back to stop a scenario like the one they found themselves in, they probably wouldn't have conceded then, and there would be no controversy to talk of.