The Tigers made it four points from six at the start of the new Championship season
18:37, 17 Aug 2025
Sergej Jakirovic celebrates after Hull City leave it late to beat Oxford United
Sergej Jakirovic celebrates after Hull City leave it late to beat Oxford United(Image: Scott Heppell/PA Wire)
Sergej Jakirovic declared himself pleased with Hull City's dramatic 3-2 win over Oxford United courtesy of Oli McBurnie's 93rd-minute winner.
City twice led a breathless opening 26 minutes courtesy of Joe Gelhardt after just 16 seconds and Matt Crooks, only to be twice pegged back through Will Lankshear and Cameron Brannagan.
Despite dominating the second period, it looked like City would be forced to settle for a point against a well-organised Gary Rowett outfit, before Abu Kamara combined brilliantly with Ryan Giles who teed up McBurnie to score the winner.
Given City's struggles at the MKM Stadium over the past four years, winning their first game in front of their own supporters was absolutely crucial for Jakirovic and his new-look side.
"I'm very happy because of three home points," a delighted Bosnian told Hull Live. "It's very important for us, for the future. We entered the game very well with a fast goal, and then we had a very good chance through Matt Crooks to make it 2-0. I was thinking it would be a goal."
Both Oxford goals came after the Tigers failed to properly deal with Will Vaulks' long throws into the box, something which angered Jakirovic given his side had prepared for that threat.
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"Then we conceded a goal that we expected, which we had analysed before the game. For these two goals, I was very angry because they were very cheap goals, not that I underestimated the opponent, because this is their quality," he continued.
"We didn't stop playing, in possession of the ball, we were very good. We changed sides very, very quickly and with our triangles on the side, we were very dangerous.
"We scored the second goal, and then again, they scored from a throw-in. When you are man marking, you must be one metre from the opponent, not five metres, because he will shoot immediately with only one touch with a volley - they were great goals.
"At half-time, we changed just a little bit our structure, with (Kasey) Palmer and Crooksy because they were very low in our half and we were not connected with the offensive players.
"Then I think we controlled everything. They changed the system at half-time, because of these wing positions, and then we believed to the end.
"We tried everything with our substitutions. We put on a second striker, changed the positions of David Akintola and Abu Kamara. When it's possible, they can make crosses inside to put them under pressure and then in the end, we succeeded. This is a very big win for us."
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Jakirovic was cautioned after McBurnie's strike by referee Andrew Kitchen after somebody from the Tigers' bench appeared to throw a ball onto the pitch.
"Somebody throw the ball from behind me, but I didn't see who it was. If the referee doesn't know, then because I'm in charge, I get a yellow card, and this is the rule, so it's OK," explained Jakirovic.
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