ELMO FIRES UP BRUCE & VILLA

Egyptian enjoys Hull of a return to old stamping ground in stunning comeback win

AHMED ELMOHAMADY ensured Steve Bruce and Aston Villa emerged from their summer of discontent with a morale-boosting win at his former club.

The Egypt international (right) – who played four of his five years at Hull with Bruce as manager – pounced after a disastrous 70th-minute clearance from keeper David Marshall fell straight to him.

He exchanged passes with Conor Hourihane and swept home from 15 yards.

That put Villa 2-1 up and five minutes later defender Alan Hutton (top) was the unlikely scorer of the goal that sealed the points following a mazy run

The new wave of optimism around Villa was tested after just seven minutes, although Bruce’s men showed resilience with a quick response.

He will have been less than impressed by the way his side fell behind following a Hull free-kick which keeper Jed Steer punched out of the area.

The ball fell to Evandro, unmarked outside the box, and his lob back into the danger area found its way into the net when it looked like defender Tommy Elphick would clear.

If the Villa centre-half was at fault with that, he made amends with a 14th-minute equaliser.

Man-of-the-moment Jack Grealish – a £40million target for Tottenham – delivered a precise curling corner into the six-yard box and Elphick rose above Hull debutant Jordy de Wijs to power home a header.

Hull might have been back in front almost immediately. Fraizer Campbell played a wellweighted pass for Jarrod Bowen and only the reflexes and speed of Steer kept his team level. Jonathan Kodjia wasted a couple of halfchances for Villa but Hull were not overawed by a team that came so close to promotion a couple of months ago. Campbell cleared the Villa bar with a 20-yard strike and then almost played in Evandro, with Steer again racing off his line to save.

The Tigers kept up the pressure after the break, with the impressive Bowen letting fly from 25 yards after a one-two, his shot deflected narrowly wide.

But Grealish began to take control and show why he would be serenaded with chants of, “We want you to stay” from the away supporters before the game’s end.

Markus Henriksen escaped a penalty shout after a tussle with Albert Adomah and Hourihane cleared the bar with a 22-yard free-kick before the two killer goals.

HULL: Marshall 5, Lichaj 6, de Wijs 5, Burke 6, Kingsley 6, Henriksen 6, Batty 6, Bowen 7, Evandro 8 (Keane 86), Kane 6 (Milinkovic 68, 5), Campbell 7 (Dicko 68, 5)

ASTON VILLA: MOTM Steer 8, Hutton 6, Elphick 7, Chester 6, Taylor 6, Whelan 6, El Mohamady 7, Hourihane 6, Grealish 7 (Bjarnason 80, 6), Adomah 5 (Green 68, 7), Kodjia 6 (Hepburn-Murphy 76, 6)

REFEREE: Andy Madley