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Aston Villa edges Hull 1-0

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-31 14:27

LONDON -- Aston Villa returned to the top four of the English Premier League with a 1-0 win at Hull on Tuesday.

Aston Villa's Ashley Young (L) crosses the ball which led to a Hull City own goal during their English Premier League soccer match in Hull December 30, 2008. [Agencies]

It was Kamil Zayatte's own goal on 88 minutes.

The match ended in confusion after referee Steve Bennett appeared to award Hull a penalty deep into injury time when Villa winger Ashley Young looked to have handled Ian Ashbee's header on the line.

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But TV replays, which showed that the crossbar had denied Hull an equalizer, vindicated Bennett's apparent change of heart after consulting his assistant.

"I didn't touch it with my hand, you can clearly see it was going over," Young said. "I was just seeing it out and we got our reward at the end of the day."

Aston Villa was fourth with 38 points, below defending champion Manchester United, which has two games in hand, on goal difference. Liverpool has 45 points and tops the standings from Chelsea by three points.