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By Dan Harrison
John Carew made it a magic Monday for Villa, as they secured European football for next season with victory over Hull.
The Norwegian striker converted Ashley Young's cross in the 34th minute to end Villa's run of nine Barclays Premier League matches without a win and guarantee a place in the Europa League.
Although the victory came by the narrowest of margins, the claret and blues would have wrapped up three points much earlier had it not been for the heroics of former Villa Academy player Boaz Myhill in the Hull goal.
Martin O'Neill's men were rewarded for their patience, after quiet opening first half in which they dominated possession but were unable to tear through the Tigers.
The best they could manage was a glancing Carew header and a fierce cross-shot from Luke Young which was charged down by Kamil Zayatte.
Ian Ashbee was in the thick of the action for the visitors, fizzing a volley wide in the fourth minute before being forced off with an injury sustained in a crunching 50-50 challenge with James Milner.
Slowly but surely, Villa's football began to flow and they took the lead from a classic counter-attack.
Gareth Barry stole possession from former Villa Park favourite George Boateng on the edge of his own box and the Villa skipper made a probing run forward. He found Ashley Young on the left and the winger picked out Carew, who got the deftest of touches to beat Myhill.
From there the hosts upped the gears and Agbonlahor nearly doubled the advantage in first-half stoppage time. He showed Zayate a clean pair of heels and collected Luke Young's pinpoint pass, but Myhill got a strong hand to the shot.
Myhill had to be at his spectacular best again immediately after the restart as Villa maintained their high tempo. This time Barry twisted and turned on the ball 20-yards from goal, only to see his goal-bound strike brilliantly tipped away.
The goalkeeper also held Milner's low drive before somehow keeping out a close-range header from Agbonlahor.
Villa had to survive a barrage of Hull set pieces but they were more than equal to the task.
By Paul Brown
FT - At last - the Villa Park hoodoo is broken. Get in. Gritty and determined performance from MON's men tonight - happy times. A celebratory pint in the Holte Pub after I've spoken to MON - anyone fancy one?
90mins - It's alamo time for Hull - even Boaz Myhill is up for a succession of corners. Incredible stuff.
90mins - FC - Chris Barlow: "We just need that elusive win." It's not far off now Chris. Fingers crossed.
90mins - SUBSTITUTION - Nigel Reo-Coker for Stiliyan Petrov
90mins - Just hold on Villa - not long left now.
90mins - SUBSTITUTION - Craig Gardner for Ashley Young
87mins - BOOKING - George Boateng
86mins - SUBSTITUTION - John Carew for Emile Heskey
83mins - I'll have a heart attack soon. Brad Friedel makes an incredible save. As you'd expect, Hull are pushing more and more bodies forward. This chance fell to Nick Barmby again.
80mins - Emile Heskey is warming up. Time for the big man?
80mins - This commentary is distracting Marie McInerney from her important essay. It's going to be a long night for you Marie.
79mins - Nick Barmy has a great chance but heads straight at Brad Friedel from close-range. Too close for comfort.
78mins - Great move, world-class save. Zat Knight heads the ball into the path of Gabby Agbonlahor who is two yards out. Somehow Boaz Myhill manages to claw the point-blank bullet over the bar.
77mins - BOOKING - Kamil Zayatte
75mins - It's got all the signs of being another edgy finish. My nerves will be frayed by the end of this game.
73mins - SUBSTITUTION - Alberto Manucho for Kevin Kilbane
69mins - FC - Andy Richards: "Please, please, please - a second goal. I'm on my knees praying." So am I Andy - I look at bit daft in the press box.
65mins - Another top save from Boaz Myhill - this time from Ashley Young's piledriver. It's one-way traffic.
64mins - Good amount of sustained pressure from the claret and blue troops.
60mins - Pretty slow start to the second half - not many chances. A second goal can't come quick enough.
51mins - FC - Ted Osborne: "Following the game from Minnesota. Got a darned meeting with the boss in a minute. Need to fake some cough and sniffles." Hilarious Ted - but you shouldn't be admitting that live on the web mate.
47mins - Gareth Barry - what a player. He twists, he turns, he shoots...he almost scores. Boaz Myhill tips his 20-yard effort wide of the post. Fantastic play from the skipper.
46mins - SUBSTITUTION - Nick Barmy for Geovanni
HT - Entertaining half from the claret and blue troops. Another goal needed - we don't want a West Ham repeat! I'm still sticking with my 4-0 predicition folks.
45mins - Incredible save by Boaz Myhill from Gabby Agbonlahor's shot from a tight angle. Respect to the former Villa man.
45mins - Four minutes added time. It's absolutely pouring down out there by the way.
42mins - FC - Conor Saunders: "I'm stuck in work and the live text is my only means of entertainment. So far, so good." Do you mean the game Conor or the entertainment I am providing?
41mins - More concerted pressure from Villa, culminating in Gabby Agbonlahor's long-range shot deflecting for a corner.
39mins - Nicky Shorey - superb pass from the inspired left-back to James Milner. The wing wizard twists and turns but his eventual shot is charged down. More cracking play.
36mins - MON does his usual jumping and fist-pumping on the sidelines after the goal - always wonderful to watch.
34mins - GOAL, GOAL, GOAL - It's Big JC, John Carew. Great finish from a tremendous Ashley Young cross from the left. Wonderful header. My 4-0 prediction looks a little more sane now.
32mins - Chris Sutton and Alan Thompson are in the crowd - nice to see the old boys in the crowd.
30mins - Fair play to the Hull fans - not many of them but they're making a right racket.
28mins - Sublime touch by MON as he shows terrific ball control on the touchline. Brilliant by the gaffer.
25mins - We're getting closer. James Milner's fierce right-foot free-kick from just outside the penalty box is tipped over by Boaz Myhill.
24mins - Terrific passage of play involving Gareth Barry, James Milner, Gabby Agbonlahor and John Carew. They may not have picked up many points in the past few games but they do play some superb football. Very exciting to watch.
23mins - James Milner is here, there and everywhere. Wouldn't want to take him on in a race - I'd have absolutely no chance.
22mins - Just need the first goal to spark MON's men. Good period of sustained pressure so far.
18mins - FC - Ted Underhill: "I now live in the south of France and follow every twist and turn of my beloved club via this live text. C'mon boys and make it four tonight. Then we can show Europe what we're made of." Like the thinking Ted.
13mins - Great header from a fan in the crowd - MON looks suitably impressed.
11mins - So close. Unbelievably close in fact. John Carew heads wide from Stiliyan Petrov's pinpoint cross. Ouch.
10mins - SUBSTITUTION - Dean Marney for Ian Ashbee
7mins - Real hefty challenge between James Milner and Ian Ashbee - our wing wonder got caught in the unmentionables.
6mins - MON alert - the gaffer is up off his seat.
3mins - Superb move from Villa - culminating with a nervy clearance from Hull after Luke Young breaks brilliantly down the right.
1mins - Ian Ashbee has the first chance of the game - firing marginally wide from just outside the area. Pretty close.
19.59pm - FC - Sarah Lees: "Do us proud tonight Villa. You can do it." Nice to hear from you Sarah - the media department's respective fingers are all crossed this evening.
19.56pm - Fabio Capello is here - and chatting to former chairman Doug Ellis. Let's hope our England boys put in a terrific performance this evening.
19.55pm - The atmosphere is terrific here - we're all praying for three points and a terrific end to the season.
19.48pm - Looking forward to this one - I'm going for a comprehensive 4-0 Villa win. Am I being too confident?
Villa make two changes from the side which drew 1-1 with Bolton.
Gabby Agbonlahor returns and replaces Emile Heskey while Luke Young has passed a fitness test to take his place at right-back. Carlos Cuellar misses out altogether.
VILLA: Friedel; L Young, Knight, Davies, Shorey; A Young, Barry, Petrov, Milner, Agbonlahor. Carew. Subs: Guzan, Sidwell, Delfouneso, Heskey (for Carew, 83), Reo-Coker (for Petrov, 90), Gardner (for A Young, 90), Clark.
Hull: Myhill; Dawson, Ricketts, Zayatte BOOKED, Turner; Kilbane, Boateng, Ashbee, Garcia, Geovanni; Cousin. Subs: Duke, Doyle, Barmby (for Geovanni, 46), Holmosi, Marney (for Ashbee, 10), Featherstone, Manucho (for Kilbane, 73).
By Paul Brown
You'd be forgiven for thinking this game means a lot more to Hull than it does to Villa.
All the pre-match hype has focused on the relegation battle, involving West Brom, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Sunderland and the Tigers. Phil Brown's side are thirsty for points and Barclays Premier League survival, no question. But there's a steely determination within the claret and blue camp too.
Martin O'Neill, Brad Friedel, Ashley Young and Emile Heskey have all come out this week and demanded a top five finish. And with Everton comfortably defeating Sunderland on Sunday, the FA Cup finalists have now leapfrogged Villa in that race.
MON will be hoping this is only a temporary thing, with three points key this evening. The Villa boss has already pinpointed the home form of his side as their achilles heel during this exciting campaign.
Too many draws - not enough wins was the basic message from the gaffer at his press conference. He wants to see a marked improvement next season. We're certain he'd actually like to see an instant improvement.
What we would all give for a victory tonight? There's only one thing you guys can do and that's sing your hearts out for the lads as you have done all season. As the boss remarked on Friday in his meeting with the media, the noise levels from the claret and blue army this season have been terrific. The manager is impressed and so are his players.
Villa just need a break, that's all. The quality of football at Villa Park has been consistently high - breathtaking at times. But you just have to look at the games against Wigan, Fulham, Stoke and even Liverpool to realise MON's men have not got the breaks their fantastic football has deserved.
At this point in the season, with the race for fifth reaching its finale, the gaffer and all you claret and blue fanatics would surely now accept a scrappy 1-0 win. I know I would.
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