The Tigers made it back-to-back wins to stay inside the top six
Sergej Jakirovic says his Hull City players deserve to enjoy the rest of their weekend after bagging a huge 3-1 win at Millwall, as they head off for their team Christmas party.
City were 2-0 up inside 13 minutes after Mo Belloumi and Liam Millar teed up Kyle Joseph to score twice, and it stayed that way until Femi Azeez was sent off with 14 minutes remaining for lashing out at the Tigers’ goalscorer.
That sparked the home side into life and shortly after, Aidomo Emakhu dragged the hosts back into it to give Alex Neil’s men hope, but Oli McBurnie stepped off the bench to score for the second time in two games to seal a deserved victory on the road, backing up their home success over Wrexham in midweek.
“Every time, it’s a very important three points, especially here at Millwall away,” the Croatian told Hull Live. “It’s not easy. They are a very demanding team, especially in set pieces.
“I think that we started slowly in the game. Ivor (Pandur) saved two nice shots. After that, I can say our transitions put them under pressure, and especially when Kyle scored the first two goals, we were calmer on the ball. We won a lot of duels in the midfield, longer balls, first ball, second ball, we were very, very good in the first half.
“In the second half, we tried to search for a third goal because you never know, 2-0, it’s 2-1, and then everything will explode here. After the red card, it was easier for us, but I was not so pleased with how we reacted after having the extra man. We conceded one goal, and then everything is open.
“Then, after the third goal with Oli. It was obvious that it was finished. It’s a great three points, and the boys deserve to celebrate over the next two days.”
City were perhaps lucky not to see Liam Millar sent off for kicking the ball away, having already been booked, a decision from Gavin Ward which enraged the home fans and coaching staff. Moments later, Millar was withdrawn with McBurnie coming on in his place, but Jakirovic says the change was planned anyway.
“I think that the referee showed that he didn’t hear the whistle, but you can get a second yellow card for this, and it would have been his second yellow,” he added.
“He was already struggling there, no energy anymore, no sprinting, so our plan was that he would go for 60 or 65 minutes and then we would take him out.”
On Azeez’s dismissal for kicking Joseph, Jakirovic admitted he didn’t actually see the incident, having been looking away.
“I didn’t see that. My head was looking away, but I think the linesman told the referee what happened.”
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