City twice battled back from setbacks to claim a fifth home win of what's becoming a fine season
Barry Cooper Hull City correspondent
15:51, 08 Nov 2025
Enis Destan netted his first Hull City goal in the 3-2 win over Portsmouth
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Enis Destan netted his first Hull City goal in the 3-2 win over Portsmouth(Image: Tony King/Getty Images)
Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic praised the character of his team for coming from behind to beat Portsmouth 3-2 and move into the Championship's top six.
City found themselves behind in the first 20 minutes when Terry Devlin's deflected shot ended Pompey's three-game goal drought, though they should have been in front with Kyle Joseph and Joe Gelhardt both passing up great chances.
The Tigers turned it around before the break with Enis Destan capping his first start with a clinical near-post finish before Joseph headed in.
Moments later, Jakirovic's men were stunned when Josh Murphy's stunning cross was headed in by the unmarked Devlin to make it 2-2 before the break.
City were dominant in the second period without creating too much, but the game was decided 11 minutes from time when Charlie Hughes' pinpoint ball over the top was expertly taken down and finished by Gelhardt to move the Tigers into the top six after 15 games of the season.
"Every game is hard in this league, so congratulations to the lads because they put in a lot of energy on the pitch," a delighted Jakirovic told Hull Live. "We played with intensity. We have played very, very good. We controlled a lot of things on the pitch.
"It was not easy because Portsmouth tried to press us man to man all over the pitch, and it was very important that we were very precise with the long balls, especially to Enis (Destan) in the first half, so that he can win a duel in the air and then transmit the ball to Joffo (Gelhardt) and for Kyle behind their defensive line.
"We had at the beginning of this game, I think, two one-hundred per cent chances we didn't score through Kyle and through Joffo. Every mistake we made today, they punished us with this, but this is football. They are also hoping they will get something.
"At half-time, I was very satisfied because it's the third game in seven days, it's difficult, but in the second half, we controlled a lot of the game, especially when we scored the third goal, they tried to put more risk on the pitch.
"I made some substitutions because of the height of the players. They tried to put everything on set pieces and long throw-ins. We controlled that, but it's not easy, and in the end, we are very happy because of these three points."
Both goals conceded by City were poor from a defensive point of view, and while Jakirovic admitted his players should have done better, he also credited the visitors with the quality of the finish and hailed the mentality of the team to twice fight back from setbacks.
"It was a very nice goal," he said of Portsmouth's second. "You cannot say anything because this second goal is a perfect cross, perfect finishing.
"Maybe we cannot lose the ball because there's one minute to go until the break, so we need to kick the ball. We cannot play in possession there when we are under pressure. But, OK, this also shows a strong mentality in our team. They didn't drop. As disappointed as we were, we continued to play in the second half, and this is also very important for us."
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