Aston Villa vs Wolverhampton Wanderers. Carabao Cup Fourth Round.
Villa ParkAttendance34,962.
Goals from Anwar El Ghazi and Ahmed Elmohamady secure Carabao Cup quarter-final for Aston Villa
Thursday 31 October 2019 06:29, UK
Aston Villa earned a deserved 2-1 win over a youthful Wolves side at Villa Park to take their place in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Anwar El Ghazi's goal gave Villa the lead before the break and though Patrick Cutrone came up with a second-half equaliser, Ahmed Elmohamady won the tie for the home side.
Wolves took more than 5,000 supporters to Villa Park but Nuno Espirito Santo made his intentions clear by changing his entire XI from the team that drew at Newcastle on Sunday.
None of the outfield players from that starting line-up were even in the squad and Wolves paid the price as their eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end.
Villa dominated from the outset with Trezeguet having a shot well blocked by Max Kilman in the early stages and Conor Hourihane seeing his free kick hit the wall.
But there was no denying El Ghazi when Henri Lansbury cleverly slid him through on goal in the 28th minute and though goalkeeper John Ruddy got a touch to the ball it crept over the line.
Villa looked comfortable but 10 minutes into the second half, Taylor Perry won possession and his subsequent shot was diverted beyond Jed Steer by the outstretched leg of Cutrone.
The parity did not last long because Villa were soon back in front when Lansbury's low free kick from the right was turned into the net at the near post by Elmohamady.
There was no comeback for Wolves this time as Dean Smith's side secured Villa's progress to the last eight of this competition for the first time in nine years.
Aston Villa boss Dean Smith: "For me football is about trying to win something. Why not go all out to win it? You only get three opportunities (a season) if you're not in Europe. You enter three competitions and the title probably slipped away from us on Saturday, so we have the Carabao Cup and FA Cup to fight for.
"We want to finish as high as we can, but this is a priority as well. We have a proud history in this cup, we've won it five times, and want to continue to win it more and have days like we had in May at Wembley. There's still a long way to go but it was a deserved victory."
Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo: "It was a tough game, Villa are a good team, we know Dean, he has good ideas and it was hard. We managed well, we stuck to our shape and we balanced ourselves and had our moments.
"The young players competed and gave everything, you have to give everything you've got. It's a building process. Since the beginning we've tried to give competition to the young boys. We tried to mix experience and talent. Their families should be proud, they are good lads."
Aston Villa host Liverpool back in the Premier League on Saturday at 3pm, while Wolves travel to face Arsenal at the same time at the Emirates Stadium.
