West Ham United and Hull City shared a six-goal Barclays Premier League thriller at the KC Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Hammers were two up in eleven minutes courtesy of a pair of cracking headers from Guille Franco and Jack Collison. Carlton Cole unluckily deflected in Jimmy Bullard's free-kick to get the hosts back into the game before Kamil Zayatte levelled matters with a volley from eight yards.
Bullard rounded off a dramatic opening 45 minutes by putting Hull in front from the penalty spot. Bernard Mendy was sent-off before Manuel Da Costa's first goal for the club set up a dramatic finish but neither side could find a winner in front of a 24,909-strong crowd.
Hull had an early warning of what was to come within 60 seconds when Valon Behrami shot straight down the throat of Matt Duke. And, just four minutes later, Gianfranco Zola's side took the lead from a corner. Junior Stanislas, in for muscle injury victim Mark Noble, cut the ball back to the fit-again Cole, but his shot was blocked by Andy Dawson. Stanislas took the flag-kick and Franco powered a superb low header past Duke.
The Mexico international played a major a role in the Hammers' second when his exquisite 40-yard ball forward was met with a looping header from Collison that left Duke stranded. The Wales international was understandably delighted and celebrated by pointing to the sky.
Hull were floored from the early one-two, but were not knocked out and Robert Green had to show some good command of his area to clear several dangerous crosses with his fists. He was helpless 18 minutes before the break, though, as the Tigers began their comeback. Jimmy Bullard's free-kick from 30 yards took two fortuitous deflections, the latter off Cole before beating the stranded Green.
Parker had a half-hearted shout for a penalty waved away by Mark Clattenburg before seeing his shot fly straight at Duke.
Hull drew level when Zayatte turned in Stephen Hunt's free-kick before Julien Faubert was adjudged to have nudged Craig Fagan in the back in added-time. Bullard made no mistake from 12 yards to complete a remarkable first-half turnaround for the hosts.
The second half carried on where the first had ended with Franco flashing a shot wide within five minutes of the restart before Hull were reduced to ten men four minutes later when last-man Mendy was dismissed for bringing down Parker.
Phil Brown reorganised his defence by changing another former Hammer, Richard Garcia, for Paul McShane. Zola responded by swapping Behrami for Zavon Hines, with Collison moving to the centre of midfield and the youngster playing wide on the right flank.
Franco survived a scary moment. After picking up a yellow card for a tug on Hunt, he escaped further punishment minutes later for a foul on Jozy Altidore.
The Hammers drew level on 69 minutes from another corner. Stanislas' kick fell kindly to the feet of Da Costa and the central defender made no mistake with a ruthless left-foot finish from eight yards to set up a blockbuster climax.
Franco was replaced by Luis Jimenez following an all-action display and the Chilean came within inches of winning it after picking up Parker's pass and firing into the side netting. Stanislas had an even better chance to win it with four minutes to go but he could only head Faubert's cross into the ground and over the bar. Then, in added time, Collison's header from the same provider had Duke scrambling across his line to claw the ball to safety.
West Ham United, who climbed one place to 17th with their point, return to Barclays Premier League action next Saturday when they play host to Burnley.