Aston Villa recovered from an early setback to beat Hull City 3-1 in this evening's Championship clash at the KCOM Stadium.
Evandro's hooked finish seven minutes in got the hosts off to the best possible start, but Tommy Elphick levelled things up soon after and Villa went on to add two more goals through Ahmed Elmohamady and Alan Hutton in the second half.
A first win in four league visits to Hull lifts the Villans up to second place in the early standings and gives manager Steve Bruce plenty to smile about on the back of a turbulent summer off the field.
Playing their opening match on a Monday night for the first time since 1907, Hull were quickest to find their groove and found themselves in front when a lurking Evandro lifted the ball over Jed Steer and Elphick from outside the box.
Villa were gifted a route back into the match seven minutes later, though, as an unmarked Elphick headed home Jack Grealish's corner to level things up.
Returning keeper Steer then got down to divert Jarrod Bowen's shot away from goal, before Jonathan Kodjia had a shot blocked with better options available.
Todd Kane and Frazier Campbell were wayward with their efforts in a fast-paced first half, and the latter nearly picked out Evandro for a simple finish but Steer read the danger well.
Another couple of impressive stops from Steer kept Villa on level terms in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, first getting down to keep out Bowen and then doing likewise from Kane's volley, although the offside flag did go up.
Moments after Albert Adomah had a penalty shout turned down when hauled down in the box, former City man Elmohamady squeezed the ball past David Marshall to complete the turnaround.
A clinical Villa side bagged a third within the space of five minutes, this time through a strike from fellow defender Hutton after dancing through on goal.
Conor Hourihane and a lively Bowen came close for their respective sides in the remaining stages of the game, but in the end Bruce's men got home and dry with a two-goal victory.
HULL CITY (4-4-2): Marshall; Lichaj, De Wijs, Burke, Kingsley; Kane (Milinkovic 67'), Batty, Henriksen, Bowen; Evandro (Keane 86'), Campbell (Dicko 67')
ASTON VILLA (3-4-2-1): Steer; Chester, Elphick, Taylor; Hutton, Whelan, Hourihane, Elmohamady; Adomah (Green 67'), Grealish (Bjarnason 83'); Kodjia (Hepburn-Murphy 67')
Daniel Lewis
