City laboured to a draw against the Championship’s bottom side
Barry Cooper Hull City correspondent
05:00, 28 Dec 2025
Referee Stephen Martin gives a yellow card to John Egan at Hillsborough(Image: Lindsey Parnaby/Shutterstock)
Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic admits he felt frustrated with the performance of referee Stephen Martin during Friday’s 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday.
Martin’s inept display left both camps frustrated, and he was booed off by both sets of supporters at the end of a game which saw the Tigers twice battle back from behind to earn a point against the league’s bottom side.
The Staffordshire-based official bizarrely disallowed a perfectly good Liam Millar goal just before half-time, which would have given City a 2-1 lead, and in the second period, he waved away protests for a clear foul by Gabriel Otegbayo on Oli McBurnie when he was clean through on goal.
There was also a case for offside in the build-up to Bailey Cadamarteri’s strike on the hour, which put the Owls back in front, while Wednesday felt aggrieved when Martin opted against giving John Egan a second yellow card, before he was brought off by Jakirovic.
The City boss is not usually a manager who speaks about referees, but given Martin’s display on Boxing Day, he felt compelled to question the official’s haphazard decision-making throughout the contest.
“We scored one goal in the 45th minute, it’s a clear goal,” Jakirovic told Hull Live at Hillsborough. “I don’t know [why it was disallowed]. Because in the games, you can whistle for 1,000 fouls on set pieces. For me, this is a clear goal.
“When we watched it again on the tablet on the bench, there is nothing. It’s a clear goal. Also questionable is the challenge with Oli McBurnie, when he steals the ball and goes towards the goal alone. Also, if it’s a foul, it’s a red card. We can speak about everything, but this is his (the referee’s) decision, and I cannot change anything. I don’t argue with them because you cannot change anything.”
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