Aston Villa remain winless three games into the new Premier League season after a goalless draw at newly promoted Hull City.
Unai Emery’s side, who were beaten by Brighton and Arsenal in their opening fixtures, went close to scoring on several occasions but Hull’s defence stood strong to ensure the points were shared.
The Tigers, meanwhile, went the closest to a breakthrough in the 65th minute when Mohamed Belloumi’s curling effort beat Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki but not the crossbar.
Villa threatened early through Nicolas Jackson whose header from Ian Maatsen’s cross drifted just wide inside two minutes, while Ross Barkley sliced an effort from inside the box narrowly wide in the 25th minute.
The biggest talking point of the first half came right at the stroke of half-time when Jackson went down in the box while attempting to reach George Hemmings’ cross and after contact from defender Nobel Mendy.
However, Villa’s penalty appeals were turned down by both referee Michael Oliver and the video assistant referee (VAR).
John McGinn failed to keep his shot down with just the keeper to beat after Jackson found the Villa captain unmarked in front of goal early in the second half before Algerian winger Belloumi hit the woodwork for Hull.
Villa pressed for a winner but it was Hull who were close to finding one through Mohamed-Ali Cho, only to be denied by Suzuki in the 89th minute.
The Tigers are second with seven points from three games while Villa are 17th.
Hull entered the third round of fixtures as one of only four Premier League clubs with a 100% record after two games.
And Sergej Jakirovic’s side had every opportunity to keep that record going against Villa.
The majority of Hull’s attacks on Saturday went through Belloumi on the right wing and he almost gifted a third win from as many matches to the Tigers here with a stunning effort.
The Algerian winger, 24, has shown in the opening weeks he has the quality to make an impact in the Premier League after starring in their promotion campaign.
But it was not just Belloumi who threatened to inflict another defeat on Villa.
New signing Cho produced a save out of Suzuki after combining with Oli McBurnie in the 89th minute and, not much later, McBurnie himself failed to make proper connection with a Ryan Giles cross with the goal at his mercy.
But sitting just two points behind leaders Manchester City with a clean sheet and unbeaten after three matches is not a bad position to be in for a club that avoided relegation to League One on goal difference only last year.
Villa arrived at MKM Stadium still searching for their first shot on target, goal and point of the season – against a defence who were yet to concede this season.
So it was perhaps no surprise that Emery’s side were unable to find a way past them – but with some better finishing up front, three points could have been theirs.
Jackson’s movement caused problems for the Hull backline and Villa created enough openings while generating an expected goals (xG) of 1.74, compared to Hull’s xG of 0.58.
Yet they still lacked the cutting edge Ollie Watkins would have provided in the past seasons.
The striker’s departure to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal in the final week of the transfer window was always going to leave a void and Villa continue to search for a new identity after the arrival of a host of new names.
They broke their transfer record twice to sign forward Johan Manzambi and Jackson while also buying Senegal winger Ibrahim Mbaye from Paris St-Germain for £47m on the deadline day.
Manzambi is yet to feature because of injury while Mbaye was an unused substitute on Saturday.
Villa will regret not capitalising on a good first hour – summed up by Emiliano Buendia’s gilt-edged chance in the 54th minute when Suzuki’s superb 70-yard pass released George Hemmings, who cut the ball back for the Argentine to blaze over.
In the end, Emery’s side were fortunate to escape with a point as Hull finished strongly and went closest to finding a winner.
And early signs are that Emery’s new-look Villa will need time to reach the levels that took them to a fourth-placed finish and Europa League triumph last season.
