Hull City 0 Aston Villa 2:Aston Villa kept their slim hopes of snatching a Champions League spot alive with a comfortable 2-0 win over Hull who remain in a relegation battle.
Villa settled the quickest and took the lead after just 13 minutes when some shambolic Hull defending allowed Gabriel Agbonlahor to advance into space before the striker coolly curled the ball into the top corner from an acute angle.
The home side should have drawn level in the 23rd minute when Kevin Kilbane fed a neat ball into Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink but the striker's shot was well saved by an onrushing Brad Friedel.
The danger was not cleared though as the rebound fell to Kilbane in acres of space and the Republic of Ireland international’s effort was blocked by the veteran goalkeeper before he again was denied by a James Collins block.
Hull squandered another chance soon after the interval when Steven Mouyokolo's effort was clawed over by Friedel, before Vennegoor of Hesselink suffered a serious head injury after colliding with Richard Dunne.
Villa put the game to bed with 14 minutes remaining when George Boateng fouled James Milner in the box and the England international stepped up to send the resulting spot-kick into the bottom corner as Villa secured a comfortable win.