21 September 2024
Aston Villa 3 Wolves 1
Unai Emery’s side welcomed Wolves to Villa Park for a Midlands derby with the visitors still looking for their first win of the season. Gary O’Neil’s side have a torrid start to the campaign and found themselves in the bottom three at the start of this game. The hosts were looking to build on victory in the Champions League in midweek to cement their place in the top four.
The visitors forced the first corner of the game as they broke after an Aston Villa attack broke down. As the ball was swung into the box, Lemina won the header but Martinez was alert and reacted well to save the ball under his crossbar. It was an early statement of intent from Wolves that they were looking for all three points in this derby.
After selling Pedro Neto to Chelsea in the summer, there is no doubting that O’Neil’s side lost one of their most dangerous players although the winger was often dogged by injuries. They added eight players to the squad during the transfer window but there was no landmark signing that made you think this squad was stronger than what the manager had at his disposal last campaign.
Often sides suffer from a European hangover when it comes to their following league matches and fans were wondering if this was the case with Emery’s side. Carlos gave the ball away, trying to play out from the back, and Cunha drilled it into the bottom corner from outside the box. His goal sent the travelling fans wild as they dreamt of grabbing that first victory against their local rivals.
Wolves started to grow in confidence and as a ball was lifted in towards the back post, it was headed back across goal by Cunha. Ait-Nouri had made a late run into the box got a volley away but it took a big deflection and narrowly missed the far post. Aston Villa were all over the shop and struggling to cope with the pressure they were being put under.
Just before the interval Mosquera played a delightful pass in behind the hosts’ defence for Strand Larsen to run onto. He struggled to get the ball from under his feet and as a result left himself a tight angle to go for goal. The striker got his shot away but Martinez was able to smother it at the near post and gather at a second attempt.
Into the second half and the hosts continued to struggle to create any clear-cut chances. With just under half an hour remaining Unai Emery decided to shuffle his pack to change things. Bailey crossed from the byline to find Watkins and his header had Johnstone beaten. Fortunately for the visitors Mosquera was on the line to keep it out and keep Wolves’ lead intact.
The changes made by the manager seemed to revitalise Aston Villa. The fans were getting behind their team and the stadium was rocking once again. Having forced a corner, Tielemans swung it in and picked out Duran at the back post. Villa’s super-sub got up well to win the header but could not find the target. It was looking like it was going to be one of those days for the hosts.
Gary O’Neil’s side were struggling to string two passes together at this stage and giving the ball away all too often. Rogers played the ball into the path of Watkins, whose shot took a big deflection off Dawson and beat Johnstone to draw Aston Villa level. The roof almost came off Villa Park as the ball nestled in the back of the net with seventeen minutes of the game remaining.
Unai Emery has turned his side into ‘mentality monsters’ and they rushed to get the game restarted with nothing but victory on their mind. Sharing the spoils with their neighbours would be seen as points dropped and Aston Villa felt that Wolves were on the ropes at this stage. To be fair the visitors’ legs were like that of Anthony Joshua by this stage.
Things went from bad to worse for Wolves as Mosquera had to be stretchered off after an unnecessary challenge. The referee had already awarded Aston Villa a free kick for a foul on Watkins but the defender cannot have heard the whistle. The Columbian had only just broke into the first team after spending a couple of seasons out on loan in the MLS and La Liga.
With time running out Tielemans put a teasing cross into the box which was slotted home by Konsa at the back post. Aston Villa were queuing up to get to the ball with Wolves’ marking seeming non-existent late on in the game. Heads dropped as the ground erupted, thinking that the comeback was complete to claim all three points in this derby.
Deep into added time Tielemans unlocked the visitors once again. Rogers got in behind the defence and squared the ball to Duran to tap into an empty goal. Wolves had been the architects of their own downfall with some sloppy defending allowing Aston Villa back into this game. Villa had taken victory from the jaws of defeat against their local rivals to send the fans home happy.
Unai Emery seemed to know that they were lucky to take the three points and will no doubt relay that to his players. In his post-match interview he struggled to contain his emotions as he simply said, ‘we were s*** in the first half and I don’t know why’. Maybe he just wanted to keep the broadcast technician at the BBC busy, it is rare they have to use their bleep censor for any of their highlights.
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