The Tigers were beaten on the road in a crazy game in West London where they led twice through Joe Gelhardt and Enis Destan
Hull City were on the wrong end of a five-goal thriller, losing 3-2 at QPR on a day where they twice led in the Loftus Road rain only to find themselves on the wrong end of defeat.
Despite a slow start, Joe Gelhardt’s sixth goal in his last seven games put City ahead with their only attempt of the first period, but Rangers drew level just before the break when Ilias Chair slotted in after the ball fell kindly to him eight yards out.
Enis Destan headed the Tigers back in front at the start of the second half, only for Rangers to level again four minutes later through Jimmy Dunne’s scooped finish, taking advantage of City’s defensive struggles.
Their comeback was complete 11 minutes later when Rumarn Burrell slotted in from close range after the ball fell kindly at his feet in front of goal.
Jakirovic opted against making any changes to his starting XI, so he went with the same side that overcame Portsmouth before the international break, which meant a 200th appearance in Black and Amber for Regan Slater, while skipper Lewie Coyle moved on 199.
The Tigers were slow out of the blocks, and that allowed the home side to create a head of steam with the returning Jake Clarke-Salter crossing for Rumarn Burrell to prod towards goal, but Pandur blocked well on his line before Ryan Giles thwarted Kone on the follow-up inside the opening 10 minutes. The Croatian was needed again moments later when Amadou Mbengue beat two before fizzing a shot from close range that he beat away.
Despite a slow start, it was the Tigers who roared in front with their first attack of real intent. Slater broke up an attack in the middle of the park, before bursting forward and sliding it to Gelhardt on the right, who beat his man before firing past time Ben Hamer and into the near post.
City were still struggling to find their fluency with the home side continuing to look the more threatening in attack, and it was little surprise when the equaliser did arrive shortly before the break, though there was a case for a foul on Gelhardt in the build-up. A scrambled shot hit Hughes and fell kindly to Chair to slide past Pandur from close range and level it up.
A bizarre game continued in the second half with City going in front again when Giles’ terrific cross was powered in by the head of Enis Destan in front of the 1,500 away supporters, but that lead felt increasingly precarious.
The away side just couldn’t wrestle any control, and after they failed on multiple occasions to clear a corner, Dunne scooped in an effort to level it within four minutes.
On the hour, Steve Cook replaced Clarke-Slater, while Darko Gyabi and Joel Ndala came on for Hadziahmetovic and Destan, which saw Joseph shoved through the middle.
Rangers turned it around and led 3-2 when Hughes blocked a shot, but it fell into the path of Burrell to slide past Pandur, in a goal not dissimilar to the equaliser in how fortunate it fell to the Rangers man.
Mo Belloumi was introduced for Slater shortly before Joseph almost made it 3-3 from Giles’ terrific delivery.
David Akintola was on for Joseph and headed just over moments later, but try as they might, Jakirovic’s men could not find a way back into it and were beaten. Matt Crooks was booked in added time, which means he’ll miss Tuesday night’s game with Ipswich Town at the MKM Stadium.
QPR: Hamer, Dunne, Mbengue, Clarke-Salter, Norrington-Davies, Madsen, Varane, Dembele, Chair, Burrell, Kone: Nardi, Cook, Morrison, Field, Morgan, Saito, Smyth, Frey, Kolli.
Hull City: Pandur, Giles, Hughes, Egan, Coyle (c), Amir, Slater, Joseph, Crooks, Gelhardt, Destan. Subs: Phillips, Ndala, Belloumi, Ajayi, Akintola, Drameh, Famewo, Gyabi, McCarthy.
Referee: James Linington
Man of the Match: Ivor Pandur
Here at Hull Live , we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group.
You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service.
Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.