McBurnie sparks joy in Hull and relief everywhere but Boro… | OneFootball

The weirdest Championship play-offs ever concluded with Hull City being promoted and, probably, huge sighs of relief at the EFL.

The Tigers will play in the Premier League next term for the first time in nine seasons after beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in a final that was never going to be anything but cagey.

Given the entertainment derived from ‘Spygate’, the neutral was always asking for too much for this world’s richest game to be a classic too.

Actually, we should be content just to have a final, definitive outcome. Which may not have been the case had Boro made the most of their reprieve and ended their Wembley hoodoo.

Hull’s owner waited until the players were inside the bowels of Wembley to reveal that he was intent on pursuing a legal route to the Premier League if the football took him down a dead end.

“Our legal team says that we have to go for action, that’s for sure,” Ilicali said while assuming his players were ignorant to what he was telling BBC Humberside.

“So we have no doubt about it. Here, all we want is justice. If justice is broken, nobody will enjoy football.

“This decision [to allow Boro to play in the final] is unbelievable… For me, an eliminated team being put back – also our lawyers say this and that’s their opinion too – is an incredibly wrong decision.”

Whether Ilicali and Hull really did have a case, we’re very doubtful. And extremely grateful not to have to find out.

And manager Sergej Jakirovic’s “everything is unfair” moan this week proved to be unfounded too.

Jakirovic was getting in early excuses he no longer needs over the preparation time he says Hull have had since it was certain on Wednesday night that they would be facing Boro.

Hull have had a plan ready to go since December, when they did a similar number on Boro. Then, the Tigers triumphed by a single goal at the Riverside with 29 per cent of the possession. At Wembley, Boro had three-quarters of the ball, but none of the threat.

Jakirovic stuck with the back three that worked so well in the semi-final second leg at Millwall, clogging up the central areas through which Boro insist on playing. When it became clear that wasn’t working… Boro just kept doing it anyway.

They played squarely into Hull’s hands and the Tigers’ winner – the scorer and manner – felt inevitable.

Oli McBurnie missed out on Scotland’s World Cup squad this week, an eyebrow-raising call given his late tap-in was his 19th goal of the season. The 29-year-old is evidently not Steve Clarke’s type – but McBurnie has set himself up for the summer of a lifetime regardless.

McBurnie pounced on a late fumble by Boro keeper Sol Brynn, the Teesider struggling to hold back tears through what little remained of the game once Hull got themselves in front on 90+5.

Brynn might have had chance to redeem himself when he went forward for a last-gasp free-kick. But, summing up Boro’s hopelessness in the final third, Callum Brittain hoiked his delivery straight into touch and their last glimmer of a chance was gone.

Doubtless Boro will go again next season under Kim Hellberg, especially if he gets the backing Steve Gibson normally affords his managers. And Ilicali will have to spend a fair chunk of the £200million or so banked from victory today if Hull’s stay in the top flight is to be anything but brief and chastening.

For now, though, be glad that things ended between Ilicali and Gibson with a hug and not a promise to see each other in court.