Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Aston Villa. Premier League.
MolineuxAttendance31,012.
Match report and free highlights as Wolves hold off Aston Villa to move up to seventh in the Premier League table and boost their hopes of European qualification; Jonny and an Ashley Young own goal gave hosts 2-0 lead before visitors responded through a late Ollie Watkins penalty
Saturday 2 April 2022 19:43, UK
Wolves earned a deserved 2-1 derby win over Aston Villa to move up to seventh in the Premier League table and boost their hopes of European qualification.
Jonny's thunderous strike (7) and Ashley Young's own goal (36) in the first half secured the three points for the hosts at Molineux as they completed the double over their west Midlands rivals.
Ollie Watkins pulled a goal back with a late penalty (86) but Wolves held their nerve to keep the pressure on in the race for Europe.
Villa have now taken just four points from 39 against teams above them in the top flight this season, underlining both their consistency issues and fallibility against the sides they wish to emulate.
They suffered again to slip 13 points behind their opponents, who move above West Ham into seventh and sit just two points behind the top five.
Without the banned Raul Jimenez and injured Ruben Neves there was a sense Wolves were underdogs, but they tore into Villa to take a seventh-minute lead.
John McGinn slipped to allow Joao Moutinho to motor forward, and then Ezri Konsa stumbled trying to cut out a pass to Daniel Podence.
It allowed the forward into the area and his shot was blocked by the covering McGinn. Lucas Digne then threw himself in front of Fabio Silva's follow-up - only for the ball to fall to Jonny, who rifled into the top corner from 12 yards.
Nine minutes before the break, the hosts grabbed a second in another moment Villa will be desperate to forget.
Again they were too open, Marcal was left with too much space on the left and the Brazilian's cross was headed into his own net by Young.
It was another calamitous moment for Villa - who blew a 2-0 lead and conceded three goals in the final 10 minutes against Wolves in October to lose 3-2.
Villa at least showed more bite in the second half and with Wolves failing to capitalise on some clear-cut chances to put the result beyond doubt, the visitors grabbed a lifeline with four minutes left.
Watkins and Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa collided, with referee Darren England giving a controversial penalty which the England forward fired in off the post.
Sa then turned Matty Cash's volley wide in injury time to deny Villa, who have now lost three consecutive Premier League games, an unlikely comeback.
Wolves head coach Bruno Lage: "It was a great performance from us, especially in the first half. Like against Leeds, it was 2-0 at half-time and we created a lot of chances.
"It's the same feeling we had against Leeds (a 3-2 defeat after being 2-0 up). That's why 2-0 is so dangerous, especially in this competition.
"I'm happy because we won, we played the way we wanted to play, the plan was perfect.
"We need that mentality to kill the game, score the third goal and not to give hope to the opponent.
"When you go into the last seven games, everyone is counting points.
"It's going to be hard. When you are in the first half of the season, you have time and points in front of you to reach your goals. From now on we have 21 points to win."
Aston Villa head coach Steven Gerrard: "We have only got ourselves to blame. At the moment we're looking like a 45-minute team and that's on me.
"I've got to fix it and I will fix it. The players in the building have to help me fix it now, if not we will get players in who will help me fix it.
"It was a game we never turned up for, we are playing against Wolves, a local rival, but you can't come to derbies at half-time. We have gifted Wolves two goals.
"At half-time we put ourselves in a really difficult position. Everything I asked of the players at half-time onwards they gave me, but when you are up against teams at this level, you can't give them a two-goal start."
Sky Sports' Dan Sansom:
"Wolves had lost four of their previous six Premier League games before their deserved 2-1 derby victory over Aston Villa at Molineux.
"Having thrown away a 2-0 lead against Leeds to lose 3-2 in their last match before the international break, it looked as if an impressive debut season under head coach Bruno Lage was in danger of petering out.
"But despite missing the banned Raul Jimenez and injured Ruben Neves, Saturday's win over their west Midlands rivals - as well as inconsistent results from the teams around them - means they are still firmly in the hunt for European football.
"Now above West Ham ahead of their clash with Everton on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, Wolves will qualify for next season's Europa Conference League if they can stay in seventh spot - that's if Crystal Palace fail to win the FA Cup.
"With tough games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool remaining, fixtures against Newcastle, Burnley, Brighton and Norwich will give Lage encouragement his side can finish the campaign strongly.
"After reaching the Europa League quarter-finals in 2019/20 under former boss Nuno Espirito Santo, Wolves can dream of playing in Europe once more and if they can find some consistency during the run-in, they will be well on course to achieve it."
Wolves travel to Newcastle on Friday live on Sky Sports Premier League; kick-off at 8pm.
Aston Villa face Tottenham at home on Saturday, April 9 live on Sky Sports Premier League; kick-off at 5.30pm.
