Both Aston Villa and Hull City were looking to guarantee their Premier League status when they met on Saturday afternoon.
All four goals came in the first half as Villa saw off the Tigers 3-1 to ensure Premier League football for another season.
Hull should also be safe, but it's not mathematically assured quite yet.
Read how today's game at Villa Park unfolded in our minute-by-minute updates below.
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the Premier League showdown between Aston Villa and Hull City. This is a vital game for the Villans, who head into the match dangerously close to the relegation zone.
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the Premier League showdown between Aston Villa and Hull City. This is a vital game for the Villans, who head into the match dangerously close to the relegation zone.
Paul Lambert's side head into this one just two points clear of the drop zone, with away trips to Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur to come in their final fixtures. They will see this as a must-win game, but Steve Bruce's Hull aren't yet mathematically safe either.
You can see how the table looks ahead of kickoff here. Team news is coming right up...
VILLA: Guzan, Lowton, Vlaar, Clark, Baker, Bertrand, Westwood, Delph, Albrighton, Agbonlahor, Weimann
HULL: Rosenior, Figueroa, Chester, Davies, Meyler, Huddlestone, Livermore, Jelavic, Long, Elmohamady
Lambert doesn't have much to choose from in the way of striker options, so Gabriel Agbonlahor has been deployed through the middle once again. The forward notched up his first strike since January against Swansea last weekend, but the Villans are sorely missing top scorer Christian Benteke.
Shane Long has shrugged off a muscle strain to partner Nikica Jelavic in the Hull attack. The form of the Tigers' front pairing has spearheaded their charge towards Premier League survival, but a defeat today could see them looking nervously over their shoulders.
It's a tough one to call this afternoon. While Villa are in diabolical form these days, they have a good record against today's opponents, defeating them seven times in their last eight attempts and drawing the other meeting.
Hull have lost three of their last five league matches and have never scored against Villa in the Premier League in five attempts. These two sides played out a dismal 0-0 draw in the reverse version of this fixture, so don't expect a high-scoring affair.
PREDICTION: With both of these sides in poor form, I don't think either will emerge victorious. I'm going for a 1-1 draw, with Weimann netting for Villa and Long on target for the visitors.
The sun is out in the Midlands today and the pitch at Villa Park is in good shape. Perfect conditions for a game of football...
The Villa Park pitch getting set for action. #AVFCLIVE #HCAFC pic.twitter.com/LxUytAfiZ9
— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) May 3, 2014
There are several other games going on this afternoon that could have a bearing on Villa's fate, with Stoke taking on Fulham, Newcastle playing Cardiff and Sunderland paying a visit to Old Trafford. It would only take a couple of those results going against Villa to plunge them into the bottom three should they fail to win this afternoon.
A win here would guarantee Hull's Premier League status and see them fulfil their pre-season objective. And with an FA Cup final to look forward to, it is fair to say that Bruce has enjoyed a successful term.
Both sets of players are heading out onto the pitch now. Which one of these two teams will be resting easier tonight? Stay tuned to find out!
KICKOFF: Hull get the match under way, kicking from right to left. They have a cup final to look forward to this month, but this afternoon is Villa's cup final!
KICKOFF: Hull get the match under way, kicking from right to left. They have a cup final to look forward to this month, but this afternoon is Villa's cup final!
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Hull City (Ashley Westwood)
It's a dream start for Villa as Gabriel Agbonlahor tears the Hull defence apart with his pace. He makes his way to the byline and squares a pass towards Marc Albrighton, who leaves it for Ashley Westwood to smash into the bottom corner from 18 yards!
That early Agbonlahor strike has really unsettled Hull, who are struggling to find any rhythm. The Villa Park faithful have been fired up by the goal, doing their bid to intimidate the opposition.
Villa enjoying more of the ball in these opening stages, but they have just been forced to defend as David Meyler attempted to thread a ball in behind their defence, but Albrighton managed to track back and clear the danger.
Half-chance for Villa as a cross falls to the feet of Agbonlahor on the edge of the box. He lets fly, but his strike cannons of Liam Rosenior and ends up behind for the first corner of the afternoon.
Ryan Bertrand grapples with Ahmed Elmohamady along the left flank for possession of the ball. It ends up going behind, with the referee ruling that Bertrand got the final touch and awarding a Hull goalkick.
Shane Long charges towards the Villa box and attempts to square a pass towards his strike partner Nikica Jelavic, only to misplace his delivery and gift possession back to the Villans.
Villa by far the better side so far. Hull are having great difficulty maintaining possession and keep giving the ball way. Agbonlahor's pace has been the host's greatest threat, while Albrighton is putting in a hard day's work.
Hull's first corner of the afternoon goes begging as Elmohamady's cross is headed clear. It falls to Liam Rosenior outside the box, who scuffs his attempt to play it back into the danger zone.
SUBSTITUTION: Gabriel Agbonlahor is replaced by Jordan Bowery. The former took a knock during the build-up to Villa's goal and has been unable to run it off. He made quite the contribution during his brief spell on the pitch, though.
CHANCE! Andreas Weimann has a good chance to double Villa's lead as he shakes off his marker and attempts to lay the ball off for Bowery in front of goal. James Chester gets back and does enough to put him off, but Weimann still manages to get a shot in, which deflects behind for a corner.
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-1 Hull City (Jordan Bowery, OG)
Hull draw level under very dubious circumstances as Jordan Bowery puts through his own net with Liam Rosenior in an offside position. Tom Huddlestone caught out the Villa back line with a quickly-taken free kick, and Rosenior's ball across the face of goal went in off the Villa striker.
There was an element of fortune about Hull's equaliser, but they are on the front foot now, looking more confident. Another Huddlestone free kick sends Villa nerves jangling, but Brad Guzan leaps high to claim it.
SORRY! Apologies for the missing updates. We've been having technical difficulties but are back now. Since we left you, Andreas Weimann scored a quickfire double for the hosts to put them two goals ahead and on course to ensure their Premier League survival.
Here's a great shot of Weimann celebrating with the Villa faithful in the first half:
© Getty Images
© Getty Images
Bowery, who scored at the wrong end for Hull's equaliser, comes close at the right end with a low shot that Harper holds.
CHANCE! Clearest opening of the second period so far as Elmohamady cuts the ball back to Jelavic, who can't make good contact. Bad miss.
SAVE! And now Villa threaten on the counter-attack the other way as Weimann feeds Bowyer, who should perhaps return it to the Austrian but goes alone and has his near-post rasper tipped over by Harper. Fair play to Weimann, most strikers would be angry and not being passed to - especially on a hat-trick! - but Weimann applauded his teammate's effort.
Huddlestone almost picks out Long with a ball over the top, but Guzan is out quickly and bravely to thwart the Irishman.
Three points is set to move Villa well away from the relegation scrap. As things stand this afternoon, both Fulham and Cardiff City are going to be relegated. The pair are losing against Stoke and Newcastle respectively.
HULL SUB: Third and final change from Steve Bruce as he takes off Jelavic and brings on Yannick Sagbo.
Today's attendance at Villa Park is 37,182. The Villa fans have been in great voice on a lovely day in Birmingham.
SHOT! Huddlestone has a powerful strike off both feet and zips a low shot with his left that Guzan gets down to smother.
VILLA SUB: Second change from Lambert as Albrighton trots off and Karim El-Ahmadi saunters on.
Hull gift Bowery possession and he looks to take on the two defenders in front of him. He works a yard of space but can't get a shot on target as he curls it a couple of yards over.
VILLA SUB: Weimann won't be able to complete his hat-trick today. He gets a standing ovation from the crowd as Leandro Bacuna takes his place for the final 10 minutes or so.
Three points for Villa is going to take them up above Hull, who aren't yet safe despite their decent season back in the top flight.
CHANCE! Decent opening for Hull to pull one back as Bruce meets a deep cross but mistimes his jump and gets under the ball.
This is the sort of performance that really endears you to a home crowd. Even though they're winning by two goals, Villa are still chasing everything down and almost create another chance after great work from substitutes El-Ahmadi and Bacuna.
Three minutes added on at Villa Park, where the fans will certainly be relieved at the fact that another season of Premier League football is guaranteed.
FULL-TIME: ASTON VILLA 3-1 HULL CITY
A great win for Villa in their final home game of the season. They leapfrog Hull and climb up to 14th in the table. Not only that, they've also guaranteed their safety, with Hull now hoping that Norwich don't pull off a shock against Chelsea tomorrow.
Click here to see how the table looks after today's fixtures. Another amazing result for Sunderland at Old Trafford means that both Fulham and Cardiff have been relegated today.
Anyway, that's all we've got time for here on this commentary. I recommend that you now follow this link to join us for the evening kickoff at Goodison Park between Everton and Man City. Will the Toffees do their city rivals Liverpool a huge favour? Should be a great game.
Written by
Mark Langshaw
Mark Langshaw
