Hull City 1 Aston Villa 3 - Report and pictures

Tommy Elphick and Ahmed Elmohamady both netted their first goals in Villa colours, while Alan Hutton ended a near four-year drought to help Steve Bruce’s men recover from a goal down to win 3-1 at Hull City.

Attention will now unquestionably turn to Grealish, a target for Tottenham. Either way, the 22-year-old’s short-term future will be decided in the next 72 hours and if this was to be his last appearance in a Villa shirt, at least he went out to a standing ovation from the visiting supporters.

In truth, Grealish’s performance was low-key on an evening which, for the most part, Villa coughed and spluttered.

Yet opening day displays are rarely perfect and after the summer from hell, when the club’s very existence was put into doubt, this can only be seen as a very good start.

It should also give boss Bruce, who knows a quick start to the campaign is imperative, something to build on.

Villa also proved last season’s character has by no means deserted them after fighting back from Evandro’s eighth minute opener.

Elphick, who had been at fault for the goal, headed them back level and though Hull will feel they were the better team for the most part, Elmohamady and Hutton struck twice in five second half minutes to earn Villa their first opening day win for three years.

Villa’s first line-up of the season saw the manager stick with the tried and trusted.

Grealish was deployed behind Kodjia in attack, while Elmohamady featured on the right of midfield as Bruce ditched the pre-season experiment of three at the back for a more familiar four man backline.

Jed Steer got the nod ahead of Mark Bunn to start in goal, with the only notable absentee Mile Jedinak, who missed out through injury.

Hull were quickest to find their stride and had already threatened twice before Evandro’s eighth minute opener.

Barely 90 seconds had passed when Jarrod Bowen, who netted the equaliser when the two sides met on opening day a year ago, chested down a well-weighted through ball and drove in a low shot which a diving Chester deflected into the side-netting.

Todd Kane then drilled dangerously across the face of Villa’s goal after excellent work from Evandro.

The Brazilian would display even better technique soon after to put his team ahead, though the goal also owed plenty to hesitant defending by Elphick.

Evandro showed great agility to re-direct Steer’s punch, from a free-kick, back toward goal from the edge of the box. Yet the looping effort seemed destined to be cleared by Elphick, before the defender appeared caught in two minds as whether to use his head or foot, the hesitation allowing the ball to cross the line.

Elphick’s redemption arrived only six minutes later, as the defender rose to head home Grealish’s left-wing corner.

Bowen had the chance to quickly restore Hull’s lead but was unable to beat Steer one-on-one after being played through by Frazier Campbell, the Villa keeper saving with his legs.

Villa also had their openings and might have gone ahead had Kodjia been able to make a clean connection with Conor Hourihane’s pull-back, following the visiting team’s best move of the half.

Kodjia, who missed most of last season through injury, still appeared to be lacking the sharpness which saw him net 19 times during the 2016/17 campaign. On one occasion when Villa pounced on a loose pass, the Ivory Coast international failed to notice the run of Elmohamady to his right and instead when on himself, only to be dispossessed on the egde of the Hull box.

While the visitors played in fits and spurts, the hosts looked far more confident in possession.

Campbell sent a fierce drive over the bar following one impressive move, while only the alertness of Steer prevented Evandro getting on the end of the striker’s clever through ball.

Bowen drove narrowly wide of goal from distance as Hull began the second half in similar vein to the first.

Gradually, Villa began to find a bit or rhythm but were unable to create much in the way of chances.

Instead it was the hosts who continued to look more dangerous in attack and Steer showed superb agility to keep an effort from Kane, albeit needlessly as the flag had already been raised.

Villa thought they should have been awarded a penalty when Albert Adomah burst into the box and appeared to be hauled down by Hull skipper Markus Henriksen, only for referee Andrew Madley to wave away the appeals.

Then, when Kodjia was fouled on the edge of the box, Hourihane fired the free-kick inches over the bar.

The latter would be involved as Villa took the lead with 20 minutes remaining. Hull keeper David Marshall’s mis-hit goal kick fell straight to the Republic of Ireland international kept his composure to play in Elmohamady on the right-hand side of the box. The Egyptian had options in the centre but instead drove a perfectly placed shot across Marshall and inside the far post.

That set the scene for Hutton to clinch the points with a rare but special effort. Playing in his more familiar right-back, the Scot cut in from the flank and past a host of defenders before sliding a finish under Marshall. It was Hutton’s first goal since December 2014.

Grealish left the field with seven minutes remaining, to a standing ovation from the visiting supporters. Whether those same fans will watch him running out against Wigan on Saturday, is now the key question.

Teams

Hull (4-2-3-1): Marshall, Lichaj, Burke, De Wijs, Kingsley, Batty, Henriksen, Bowen, Evandro (Keane 87), Kane (Milinkovic 67), Campbell (Dicko 67) Subs not used: Stewart, MacDonald, Irvine, Long (gk).

Villa (4-4-1-1): Steer, Hutton, Chester, Elphick, Taylor, Elmohamady, Whelan, Hourihane, Adomah (Green 68), Grealish (Bjarnason 83), Kodjia (Hepburn-Murphy 77) Subs not used: Bree, Gardner, Lansbury, Bunn (gk).