Villa dominated for most of the match, but a late fightback from Hull City made the margin of victory far closer than it needed to be.
This should have been more comfortable for Aston Villa, who completely dominated most of the game and would have been surprised to only emerge from their clash with Hull City with a one-goal win. But the late blip that let the visitors back in won't matter too much to Paul Lambert: his team put in perhaps their best performance of the young season, and they claimed a vital three points to boot.
Villa started strong and refused to let up, holding possession with ease against the visitors and causing them serious problems whenever they went forward. Fabian Delph nearly opened the scoring inside two minutes, squeezing his way through the defence and then blasting off the near post from a narrow angle, but Hull's let-off was only temporary. 10 minutes later, the hosts were ahead.
Midfield dominance isn't normally a hallmark of Villa's game, but they crushed the Tigers in the first half, picking them off with ease whenever they tried to move the ball through the central third. Eventually the interceptions were going to lead to a goal, and so it proved -- a wayward pass from the back eventually found its way to Andreas Weimann, whose quick pass to Gabriel Agbonlahor afforded the striker enough time to turn at the top of the box and fire past Allan McGregor to make it 1-0.
After the goal, Villa might have been forgiven for resting on their laurels, but there was no letup in their play. Hull were pinned in their own half, the visitors only chances coming from their rare set pieces. The intensity of Villa's play meant that a second goal was inevitable, and it arrived in the 36th minute. New Hull signing Michael Dawson coughed up the ball to Delph, who passed wide for Kieran Richardson. The visitors' defence panicked, leaving Weimann alone in the middle, and the Austrian was duly picked out, a simple finish making it 2-0.
Villa might have added to their lead just before the break through a thumping Ashley Westwood free kick, which beat McGregor but cannoned off the near post and was scrambled to safety. But the intensity dropped after the interval, perhaps thanks to a halftime formation from the visitors that turned their back three into a four, a switch that game Hull at least some measure of control.
It seemed too little too late -- until Nikica Jelavic headed against Aly Cissohko and past the hitherto untroubled Brad Guzan with 15 minutes to go. Suddenly Villa were under pressure, and Guzan was called into action just minutes later thanks to Jake Livermore's curling drive. But, faced with this surprising storm, the hosts' back line held out, and Guzan's smart save when Sonny Aluko found himself free in the box in stoppage time ensured victory. That's seven points from nine -- perhaps Villa will be able to avoid the relegation battle this season?
Aston Villa starting lineup (4-3-3): Brad Guzan; Aly Cissokho, Philippe Senderos, Ron Vlaar, Alan Hutton; Kieran Richardson (Jack Grealish 75'), Fabian Delph, Ashley Westwood; Charles N’Zogbia (Carlos Sanchez 64'), Gabriel Agbonlahor, Andreas Weimann.
Goals: Agbonlahor 14', Weimann 36'.
Hull City starting lineup (3-5-2): Allan McGregor; Curtis Davies (Liam Rosenior 45'), Michael Dawson, Paul McShane; Andrew Robertson, Stephen Quinn, Tom Huddlestone (Sonny Aluko 71'), Jake Livermore, Ahmed Elmohamady; Tom Ince (Robbie Brady 58'), Nikica Jelavic.
from SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1B7Qv3f
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