City laboured to a draw against the Championship’s bottom side
Sergej Jakirovic, Hull City’s head coach, confesses he was disappointed with referee Stephen Martin’s performance during Friday’s 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday.
Martin’s poor performance frustrated both camps, and he was booed off by both sets of fans at the end of a game in which the Tigers twice came from behind to earn a point against the league’s bottom team.
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 Gabriel Otegbayo’s clear foul on Oli McBurnie when he was clean through on goal.
There was also a case of offside in the build-up to Bailey Cadamarteri’s goal on the hour, which put the Owls back in front, and Wednesday felt aggrieved when Martin chose not to give John Egan a second yellow card before he was replaced by Jakirovic.
The City manager is not typically one to criticize referees, but after Martin’s performance on Boxing Day, he felt compelled to challenge the official’s sloppy decision-making throughout the game.
“We scored one goal in the 45th minute, it’s a clear goal,” Jakirovic told Hull Live at Hillsborough. “I’m not sure [why it was denied]. Because in the games, you can call 1,000 fouls on set pieces. For me, this is an obvious goal.
“We watched it again on the tablet on the bench, and there was nothing. It is a clear goal. Also questionable is the challenge with Oli McBurnie, who grabs the ball and runs towards the goal alone. Also, if there is a foul, it results in a red card. We can discuss everything, but this is his (the referee’s) judgment, and I can’t change it. I don’t argue with them since you can’t alter anything.
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