Hull stay unbeaten as Aston Villa finally earn first point in frustrating stalemate
Hull City continued their impressive start to life back in the Premier League by holding Aston Villa to a 0-0 draw, while Unai Emery’s side finally picked up their first point of the season.
For Villa, though, there was little real relief. They remain without a goal after 3 league matches, becoming the first team in the Premier League era to fail to score in their opening 3 games in 2 consecutive seasons.
Hull, meanwhile, may have seen their perfect start end, but they remain unbeaten after 3 matches and continue to sit surprisingly high in the table.
Match highlight
Villa began with much more urgency. The Europa League holders knew they needed a response after a poor opening to the campaign, and Nicolas Jackson nearly gave them the perfect start when he headed narrowly wide from Ian Maatsen’s floated cross.
George Hemmings then forced Konstantinos Tzolakis into a save from a tight angle, producing Villa’s first shot on target of the season.
Ross Barkley sent a low effort toward goal, but Tzolakis got fingertips to it and kept Hull level. Villa’s failure to take those early chances gradually began to feel costly as the home side grew into the game.
Mohamed Belloumi and Regan Slater both tested new Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki from distance, although neither effort truly troubled him.
The match remained goalless at half-time, and Villa wasted another big chance shortly after the restart when John McGinn failed to hit the target with only Tzolakis to beat.
Emiliano Buendia then fired over after Hemmings pulled the ball back into the area, before Villa were denied a penalty when Nobel Mendy appeared to shove Matty Cash.
Just as Villa looked set to pile on more pressure, Hull created the best opportunity of the match.
Belloumi combined smartly from a short corner and unleashed a superb curling effort from distance that crashed against the crossbar.
Hull had a few half-chances in stoppage time, but neither team could produce the quality required in the final third and referee Michael Oliver brought an end to a frustrating contest.
Villa will be concerned by how familiar this feels. They had similar problems last season, and another blank across their opening 3 league games leaves Emery with a major attacking issue to solve quickly.
Hull, however, can take plenty from the result. Their unbeaten start is intact, they are now unbeaten in 8 competitive home matches, and their early position near the top of the Premier League table remains one of the season’s biggest surprises.
