Oli McBurnie snatches winner in Hull City thriller to hand Sergej Jakirovic perfect home start

Oli McBurnie snatches winner in Hull City thriller to hand Sergej Jakirovic perfect home start

The Tigers left it late to grab victory in their first home game of the season

Joe Gelhardt celebrates scoring with teammate Oli McBurnie (Image: George Wood/Getty Images)

Oliver McBurnie slammed in a stoppage-time winner to give Sergej Jakirovic a winning start at the MKM Stadium, as Hull City beat Oxford United 3-2 in dramatic fashion.

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City twice squandered the lead against Gary Rowett's men and it looked like it would be heading for a 2-2 draw until McBurnie slammed in the winner from Ryan GIles' cross to spark wild scenes.

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Barely had the crowd taken their seats before City roared into the lead with Joe Gelhardt firing in the opener inside two minutes, but shoddy defending allowed the visitors to level up within seven minutes through Will Lankshear's sliced volley.

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A fabulous half of football continued when Matt Crooks made it 2-1 from Gelhardt's pass, and again, City's inability to defend long throws allowed Cameron Brannagan to volley in the net from the edge of the box and make it 2-2 inside 26 thrilling minutes.

Despite their dominance in the second period, City couldn't find the winning goal their play probably deserved, and while there were numerous positives, the overriding feeling was that two points had been dropped until their star summer signing popped up with a moment to remember and seal a first home victory at the first time of asking. A memory those present will not forget in a hurry.

Jakirovic made four changes from the side that started the season at Coventry City last Saturday, with John Egan, Kasey Palmer, Joe Gelhardt and Oliver McBurnie all coming in to start. Semi Ajayi was out injured with his hamstring problem, with Regan Slater, Kyle Joseph and Abu Kamara dropping to the bench, where there were places for new signings David Akintola and Brandon Williams.

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A raucous MKM Stadium didn't have to wait long for their first goal of the season and it came from the boot of a returning favourite. Home debutant McBurnie fed Gelhardt on the right and he drove into the box, twisting and turning before going on the outside and powering a shot past Jamie Cumming at his near post. The blue touch paper well and truly lit.

It should have been two moments later when City cut United open, Lundstram's ball inside left found Ndala who pulled it back behind the goalkeeper and running on, Matt Crooks' effort was brilliantly blocked by Greg Leigh, though in truth, he should have scored.

And City were made to pay for that glaring miss when Spurs loanee Will Lankshear volleyed in the leveller a couple of minutes later after some pretty haphazard defending inside the box saw the Tigers fail to clear after multiple opportunities.

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That didn't deter the Tigers, who continued to probe and they were back in front inside a blistering 21 minutes when Gelhardt turned provider for Crooks who this time didn't miss, slotting beyond Cumming and into the net.

Palmer's inswinging corner almost embarrassed the goalkeeper, with Cumming needing to punch away from his line to avoid it going straight in.

Will Vaulks' long throws, were arrow-like and causing all sorts of problems and again, City couldn't clear properly and their lead was cancelled out when another throw wasn't dealt with and fell at the boot of Brannagan to volley in from 20 yards. Pandur looked slow to react, getting a hand to it as it went into the bottom corner.

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Two-two after 26 minutes, and twice City's lead had been cancelled out by two good volleys, but two awful pieces of defending. You wonder how much of a miss Semi Ajayi was in those moments.

City were looking a real threat down the left with Ryan Giles and Joel Ndala, the pair carving out some real moments of danger, while at the other end, Lankshear should have made it 3-2 when Pandur kicked it straight at him.

The hosts were dominant at the start of the second half, so Rowett made a double change with Siriki Dembele and Matt Phillips replacing Mills and Goodrham. That change came after he sent on Sam Long for Mark Harris at the start of the second period, opting for an extra defender.

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Ndala appeared to hurt his shoulder with 24 minutes to go, so was replaced by debutant David Akintola, while Abu Kamara was on for Palmer.

Fifteen minutes were left when Tom Bradshaw replaced Lankshear moments after Gelhardt had a rare sight on goal in the second half, seeing his shot palmed behind.

Inside the final 10 minutes, Kamara saw a shot blocked and then Gelhardt fizzed one straight at Cumming who blocked well. Leigh was replaced by Jack Currie with six minutes left and the game fizzling out into stalemate.

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For the final couple of minutes, Regan Slater and Kyle Joseph replaced Crooks and Gelhardt and City had a couple of moments with Akintola, but nothing until Giles raced onto a Kamara pass to find McBurnie in the box, and he slammed in the winner three minutes into added time.

There was still time for Jakirovic to pick up a booking as City came under heavy pressure, but held on to seal a deserved victory and make it four points from the opening six.

City: Pandur, Giles, Hughes (c), Egan. Drameh, Lundstram, Crooks, Ndala, Gelhardt, McBurnie, Palmer. Subs: Phillips, Famewo, Kamara, Joseph, Brown, McCarthy, Slater, Akintola, Williams.

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Oxford: Cumming, Vaulks, Moore, Helik, Brannagan, Harris, Spencer, Mills, Goodrham, Leigh, Lankshear. Subs: Ingram, Long, Phillips, Sibley, Bradshaw, Dembele, Ter Avest, Johnson, Currie.

Referee: Andrew Kitchen

Attendance: 20,667 (around 900 from Oxford)

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