Unibet saw Hull City hold Aston Villa 0-0 at the MKM Stadium. Hull stayed unbeaten on seven points from three Premier League games; Villa left with a third straight scoreless match.
Sergej Jakirovic had just signed a two-year contract extension on Friday, then watched his side keep a third successive clean sheet. He said, "We won’t be ungrateful for seven points after three games and another clean sheet."
One shot on target was all Aston Villa managed, and it came early through George Hemmings. Villa needed more from a front line that has now gone three matches without scoring, after the 4-0 defeat at Brighton and the 1-0 home loss to Arsenal.
MKM Stadium pressure
Mohamed Belloumi hit the crossbar in the second half, while Mohamed-Ali Cho and Oli McBurnie threatened late on. Hull were playing in front of a sold-out MKM Stadium, and the home support had already seen them beat Manchester United on the opening day and win at Coventry last weekend.
Hull’s start is the stronger line on the table, but it came with a catch: Jakirovic’s team could have turned a home draw into a win. He said, "We could have won, but they also had a few chances in the second half."
Villa's one-shot problem
John McGinn missed from less than 12 yards out, Emiliano Buendía blazed over in the 53rd minute, and Nicolas Jackson headed Ian Maatsen’s cross wide inside the second minute. Unai Emery said, "The result is not enough, but I think we deserved more."
Emery added, "We weren’t clinical but of course to win matches, you need goals," and, "We created chances today to score and we must improve but we are rebuilding." For Villa, the issue is no longer a single missed finish; three games without a goal point to a wider break between chance creation and end product.
Hull leave with seven points and another clean sheet, a return that supports Jakirovic’s belief that they can beat the drop. Villa leave with the sharper question: can they turn chances into goals before the run stretches further?
