Goals from Valon Behrami, Carlton Cole and Julien Faubert secured a comfortable win over nine-man City.

The victory was helped by the dismissal of Hull's Craig Fagan in the second-half and, after the visitors had used all three of their substitutes, the loss of City's captain Anthony Gardner with a serious leg injury.

But while the goalscorers hogged the spotlight, it was Alessandro's performance which lit up the east London ground.

The former Livorno striker almost scored the goal of the season when he tried to beat Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill with a shot from inside his own half.

Such an audacious approach to the game reminds Zola of the days when he used the same unpredictability to wow the fans at Chelsea.

"Although I have very good players, I keep him playing all the time because I know he can do something special for us at any moment and it is important to have players like that," said Zola.

"You have to be on your toes when you play against him because he can score at any moment.

"That is a big thing, confidence wise, for the whole team. It is a big thing for me knowing that on the pitch I have a player who can score at any time.

"He is probably the only one crazy enough to try and score from his own half. Sometimes he does the unpredictable things. He also does unpredictable mistakes as I used to. That is the kind of player he is.

"But what is surprising me about him is that his work-rate is fantastic. He is also playing in a position where he has never played before. In Italy, he used to play second striker or maybe behind the two strikers in the hole.

"He didn't work very hard defensively but now he works very hard for us and is massive for the team."

West Ham's victory was their first back-to-back league successes since March 2009 and the stability brought to the club by new owners David Gold and David Sullivan is already having its effect, according to Zola.

It means Zola will take his West Ham side to Old Trafford on Tuesday in a relaxed and confident mood.

"You live up and down in this job," he added. "When things are not going very well you suffer a lot. Now we are getting better and as far as I am concerned, I am much more pleased.

"Now we can play a little bit more relaxed. During those times off the pitch we never lost our focus. It has been hard for me and the players. There were so many things going on.

"Now the with situation more stable, I think the results will come because this team has got quality, no doubt about that. We just need the right conditions to show how good we are."

Hull boss Phil Brown was hoping to learn the extent of Gardner's leg injury later today.

The former Tottenham defender was carried from the field on a stretcher late in the game after clashing with West Ham substitute Mido.

But Brown was equally concerned about the poor performances of some of his players, notably the red-carded Fagan.

Goalkeeper Myhill and defender Andy Dawson also came under fire from Brown as they conspired to give the ball to Tom Cairney in the second minute.

Cairney lost possession and West Ham went on to score their opening goal.

"I am unhappy with a number players today and I've not yet singled anybody out but Craig's actions were, as I say, self-inflicted and damaging the team," said Brown.

"He will know that, Andy will know that and Boaz will know that. You can't blame Tom Cairney for what happened for the first goal but a lot of it was self-inflicted.

"This was an uncharacteristic performance but I don't think we look like a relegation side.

"We will have a better idea of Anthony's injury today. It swelled up immediately and didn't look too clever."