Villa started off their 2017/18 Championship campaign with a 1-1 draw against Hull at Villa Park.
Villa had the first opportunity to go ahead when Henri Lansbury was put through on goal in the second minute, but he scuffed his shot across the face of the goal.
Three minutes later, Agbonlahor had the perfect chance to open the scoring when he was put clean through on goal, but he shot straight at the keeper. However, he made no mistake two minutes later when he swept home Hutton’s delightful cross.
Hull started to come into the game, and they had their first real shot on target in the 22nd minute, which Johnstone dealt with comfortably. In the 27th minute, Hogan went on a dazzling run into the box, but couldn’t get his shot away in time, and chance went begging. Hogan had another chance in the 32nd minute, but he couldn’t steer home Elmohamady’s pin-point cross.
Johnstone made sure that Villa went into the break with their lead intact when he made two fine saves in the 43rd minute after Hull broke forward.
Villa started the second half brightly, and could have had a penalty when the ball struck Aina’s hand in the box. Hull started to have their best spell of the match, and in the 62nd minute, their pressure was rewarded when Bowen rifled home at the back post.
The two sides pressed for a winner in the remaining 30 minutes, and Onamah had a glorious chance a few minutes before full-time, but he blazed his shot over the bar. There were no other chances of note, and the game ended in a stalemate.
Here are our Villa player ratings for today’s game:
ST: Scott Hogan - 5
He has struggled since he arrived at Villa, and this is another game that just passed him by. Should have doubled Villa’s lead when Elmohamady swung in an inviting cross just after the half-hour mark.
ST: Gabby Agbonlahor - 8
Terrorized the Hull defence throughout the first half, and was on hand to sweep in Hutton’s great cross in the 7th minute.
LM: Leandro Bacuna - 5
Bacuna has his doubters, and he did nothing in this game to prove them wrong. Was lucky to last 70 minutes if we’re being honest.
CM: Henri Lansbury - 5
Has failed to impress since he arrived at Villa, and he had yet another poor game in claret and blue.
CM: Glenn Whelan - 6
Had a decent first half, and was pushing Villa forward with some very good long balls. However, he trailed off in the second half and mistakes started creeping into his game.
RM: Ahmed Elmohamady - 6
Had a solid debut, but nothing more than that. He went missing for large parts of the second half.
LB: Neil Taylor - 6.5
Had a decent game at left-back, but him being out of position enabled Grosicki to swing in the cross which led to Hull’s equalizer.
CB: John Terry - 8
Was an absolute rock at the back and marshaled his defence brilliantly.
CB: James Chester - 7.5
Chester had a solid game at the back and looked like he has been playing alongside Terry for years. He threw his body on the line to prevent Hull from giving Johnstone more work to do.
RB: Alan Hutton - 7
Just like last season, Hutton was extremely solid at the back and barely put a foot wrong the whole game. To add to this, he swung in the delightful cross that Agbonlahor opened the scoring with.
GK: Sam Johnstone - 7
Made 2 fine consecutive games at the end of the first half to keep Villa’s lead intact. Looked assured throughout the match, but could do nothing about the goal.