Talk about Chelsea centre halves and it’s only fair to concentrate on the future rather than the past as John Terry’s Aston Villa debut was overshadowed somewhat by Michael Hector, the loanee from Chelsea in the heart of the Hull City defence. Hector stood out as Hull forced their way back into this game and then held firm as Villa rallied late in the second half. It had looked plain sailing for Terry and Villa as they controlled the first half and took the lead through a Gabriel Agbonlahor goal after only seven minutes, but Steve Bruce’s team were profligate thereafter and Hull punished them as Jarrod Bowen scored a second-half equaliser.
Hector was embraced by Terry on the final whistle, who will have appreciated his display more than anybody as Villa tried to snatch a late winner with a series of long balls into the Hull box, but Hull also were indebted to the speedy winger Kamil Grosicki for spearheading the comeback.
Apart from Terry, two other experienced Premier League campaigners, Glenn Whelan and Ahmed Elmohamady, have also joined Villa’s chastened ranks and they also made their debuts.
For Hull City, the new boys include manager Leonid Slutsky, from Russia, who bestrode the touchline for half an hour before the game enjoying near total anonymity.
Slutsky is a friend of Roman Abramovich, two of whose Chelsea players, Ola Aina and the aforementioned Hector, were starting on loan for Hull.
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Slutsky also gave a debut to academy graduate Max Clark at left-back with new signing Fraizer Campbell, playing just behind the striker Abel Hernandez.
Ross McCormack, the £12m signing made by the previous manager, Roberto Di Matteo, remains out in the cold at Villa but any mutterings about his continued absence were silenced when Villa took the lead after only seven minutes.
Even before this Villa had threatened as Agbonlahor played in Henri Lansbury who shot wide, while Agbonlahor himself had also tested the Hull City goalkeeper Allan McGregor, who saved well with his feet.
The third time McGregor was left exposed by his dozy defence, there was no escape. Whelan played a simple ball to Alan Hutton who made a typically direct run down the right flank and while his cross should have been cut out before it reached Agbonlahor at the far post, the Villa veteran still needed to keep his cool as he slotted the ball past McGregor.
By half time, Villa should have been two or three goals ahead as they completely controlled the tempo of the game and created several more good chances. Whelan and Leandro Bacuna dominated the midfield and the long ball in behind the defence for the fleet-footed Scott Hogan to run on to had the Hull defence constantly asking questions about what their opponents would do next. Slutski’s side could have also done without Agbonlahor back on his game.
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Hogan had three chances to add to the Villa tally before the interval, but snatched at two of his opportunities and completely mishit a third, a sign that he is still low on confidence having had a difficult time in the west midlands since joining from Brentford for £14m in the January transfer window.
Villa were almost caught out when on the stroke of half-time, when Grosicki made a powerful run at their defence and Campbell had a chance but shot too close to Sam Johnstone. Grosicki then also hit the rebound too close to the Villa keeper.
That should have been a warning sign for Villa but just as Agbonlahor had stretched Hull in the first half, so Grosicki started to really motor in the second and Villa didn’t know how to handle him.
With the home side dropping deeper and deeper in an attempt to stifle the speedy Hull winger, Bowen had a chance which was blocked by Terry, but the Hull midfielder wasn’t to be denied just after the hour mark.
Again Villa failed to clear their lines properly and Grosicki’s cross found Bowen in space and with time to deliver a left-footed volley which flew past Johnstone for the equaliser.
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Villa were suddenly starting to look leggy and Bacuna was hauled off to be replaced by Andre Green, while Whelan was also crunched in the tackle by his Republic of Ireland teammate, David Meyler.
Star man: Kamil Grosicki (Hull City)
Yellow cards: Aston Villa: Whelan, Lansbury
Referee: A Madley
Attendance: 31,241
Aston Villa: Johnstone 6, Hutton 6, Chester 6, Terry 6, Taylor 6, Elmohamady 6, Whelan 6, Lansbury 5 (Samba 89min, 4), Bacuna 5 (Green 69min, 5), Hogan 5 (Onomah 77min, 5), Agbonlahor 6 Substitutes: Steer, Hourihane, Bree, Green, Bjarnason
Hull City: McGregor 6, Aina 6, Hector 8, Dawson 7, Clark 6, Bowen 7, Grosicki 8 (Weir 90min, 4), Henriksen 6 (Mazuch 90+2min), Clucas 6, Campbell 5 (Meyler 69min, 5), Hernandez 5 Substitutes: Mannion, Diomande, Batty, Lenihan