Neither side has been able to break through in the first half as Aston Villa and Swansea City remain goalless at the break in the Premier League clash at Villa Park.

It was the hosts, without a home league win since May, who started the brighter and they were given their first chance after three minutes when Kyle Naughton handled outside the box, but Kieran Richardson's free kick was easily held by Lukasz Fabianski.

However, the visitors grew into the match and had the first clear sight of goal when indecision between Idrissa Gana and Leandro Bacuna allowed Gylfi Sigurdsson to steal in and curl narrowly wide.

As Jefferson Montero began to find some joy down the left flank against Alan Hutton, Swansea should have taken the lead from a resulting corner when Bafetimbi Gomis headed a corner back across goal but Federico Fernandez could only volley over from six yards.

Villa attempted to stem the tide and had a half-chance themselves when Rudy Gestede fired wide after the striker had held off Fernandez on the edge of the box.

The game found some bite after the half-hour mark when captains Micah Richards and Ashley Williams were both booked after squaring up to one another, before Gestede came close again when he headed Bacuna's fine corner over the bar six minutes before the whistle as the teams headed into the break level.