Hull City recorded their first victory over Aston Villa since 1987 as goals from Nikica Jelaivc and Dame N’Doye sealed the win for Steve Bruce’s Tigers.
N’Doye, a new signing from Lokomotiv Moscow, controlled a long pass before feeding Jelavic, who slotted home his seventh of the season. As the second half wore on N’Doye finally got his goal, the Senegalese striker shot his own rebound home and sealed Hull’s first win since New Year’s Day.
It was evident from the start that these two sides are in the relegation dogfight. As neither side looked confident on the ball, chances were being created, mainly through Hull’s Dame N’Doye and Villa’s Andreas Weimann.
After spells of possession for both sides with neither having any real substance in attack, the home side took the lead. With 22 minutes gone, Hull striker N’Doye controlled the ball and sent it in to Jelavic, whose shot was deflected and over Brad Guzan to give Hull City the lead.
The goal gave the home side some much needed confidence as N’Doye and Jelavic continued to look impressive up front. Aston Villa struggled to get a foothold in the game, with Hull ‘keeper Allan McGregor rarely being challenged in the first-half. They had possession of the ball but failed to do anything productive with it.
The game slowed down as half time approached, tackles started to fly. Villa continued to enjoy a spell of possession but the whistle blew for half-time and Villa were certainly the weaker side, as Hull dominated the first-half and had the momentum thanks to Jelavic’s seventh goal of the season.
The newly formed strike partnership of N’Doye and Jelavic was the difference in the first-half as the link up play was impressive. Jelavic also became Hull’s joint record Premier League goalscorer, levelling Geovanni’s record of 11 goals.
No real shocks as Christian Benteke was introduced from the bench, with Weimann making way. This had the desired effect as Villa started the second half the better side. The Villains were playing more direct football.
N’Doye was a constant threat throughout the game, and he continued to be tackled and fouled as Villa looked to neutralise Hull’s main goalscoring threat. However, the Senegalese had the last laugh as he doubled Hull’s lead with 15 minutes left on the clock.
His constant threat was rewarded as substitute Gaston Ramirez headed the ball down for N’Doye, whose initial shot was parried by Guzan, only for N’Doye to slot the rebound home. Aston Villa continued to struggle in front of goal as Benteke attempted to get a shot on target, but Hull defender Michael Dawson managed to stop the big Belgian before McGregor gathered up the ball.
Dame N’Doye was then substituted and received a standing ovation, as the striker’s first start for the club ended in a goal and an assist for the Senegalese striker. Villa fans became restless towards the end of the game as ‘Lambert Out’ banners started to appear in the away end.
Villa slumped to yet another defeat, while Hull moved out of the relegation zone with their first win since the New Year’s Day win over Everton. Hull moved up to 15th and out of the relegation zone while Villa fell into the bottom three thanks to QPR’s win at Sunderland.
Hull fans will be encouraged by the partnership that is blooming between Jelavic and N’Doye, while Villa will look at the result as their rotten season continues.
| Hull City (2) | Aston Villa (0) | ||
|
|  |  |  |
| McGregor | 6 | Guzan | 6 |
| Dawson | 7 | Hutton | 7 |
| Bruce | 6 | Okore | 6 |
| McShane | 6 | Clark | 6 |
| Elmohamady | 6 | Cissokho | 5 |
| Livermore (3) | 6 | Gil | 6 |
| Huddlestone | 7 | Westwood | 6 |
| Meyler | 6 | Delph | 6 |
| Brady | 7 | Snclair (2) | 5 |
| N'Doye (2) | 8 | Agbonlahor | 5 |
| Jelavic (1) | 8 | Weimann (1) | 6 |
| Substitutions | |||
| Ramirez (1) | 6 | Benteke (1) | 6 |
| Hernandez (2) | 6 | Cole (2) | 6 |
| Quinn (3) | 6 | - | - |
