Manchester is not alone is staging a derby today and manchchesterfootball.info pays a visit to Molineux for the West Midlands clash between Wolves and Aston Villa.
WOLVES 0, ASTON VILLA 1
Aston Villa’s 10 men snatched an unlikely win at Wolves thanks to a stoppage time penalty from substitute Anwar El Ghazi.
It looked as though the derby was destined to end in stalemate until Villa were awarded a 94th minute penalty when John McGinn was hauled down by Nelson Semedo.
Dutch international El Ghazi stepped forward to send Rui Patricio the wrong way from the spot to lift Villa above Wolves into eighth place as they continued their impressive away run in the Premier League – this was their fourth win from five games on their travels.
It was a snatch as Wolves had the better of the chances, Fabio Silva striking the upright and Emiliano Martinez making some important saves, in a derby in which referee Mike Dean took centre stage producing 11 yellow cards, two apiece for Douglas Luiz and Joao Moutinho.
Yet in was more niggly than nasty and a game which did not warrant so many cautions.
Embed from Getty ImagesVilla manager Dean Smith was pleased to get back to winning ways after two losses.
He said: “It was a big win. It was a really competitive game and were up for it from the start.
“It is a tough place to come to but we showed a lot of character.”
Smith thought his side asked a lot of questions about Villa without creating many “big chances”.
Villa’s manager praised goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, a summer signing from Arsenal.
“He is a really composed goalkeeper and does the job asked on the tin which is to keep the ball out of the goal,” he said.
Smith added the game did not warrant the number of cards which were produced by referee Dean.
Wolves’ manager Nuno Espirito Santo said: “It is always disappointing to lose. We played good. I didn’t see the images (for the penalty). The referee judged and the VAR saw it.
“We keep on going. In the first half it was an intense game and both teams were tight. In the second we controlled the game and had clear chances. We try to keep on growing on these aspects and be more clinical. Too many fouls in the first half. It did not flow. In the second it was better.”
On scoring goals without the injured Raul Jimenez, he added: “It is something we have to do as a team – find solutions.”
Wolves handed a first Premier League start to 18-year-old striker Silva, their club-record £35.6m signing from Porto in the summer.
The Portugal Under-19 international was one of two changes to the starting line-up from last week’s 4-0 defeat at Liverpool, with defender Romain Saiss also coming in as Ruben Neves and Willy Boly lost out.
Forward Raul Jimenez has left hospital after surgery on his fractured skull, while defender Jonny is also a long-term absentee with a knee injury.
Aston Villa, still without the injured Ross Barkley, handed teenage midfielder Jacob Ramsey his first Premier League start.
The 19-year-old was one of two changes to the team that kicked off the 2-1 defeat at West Ham two weeks ago as he and Bertrand Traore replaced Conor Hourihane and Trezeguet.
Winger Trezeguet was available despite suffering a cut to his head against West Ham and Bjorn Engels was fit after a long-term thigh injury.
On a cold and crisp afternoon, the game took time to warm up.
Apart from a VAR check for a possible offside against Saiss, that was about the sum total of action in the opening half hour when Villa had Luiz, Matty Cash and John McGinn booked.
Wolves made a strong finish to the half and would have taken the lead but for two great saves by Martinez to deny Daniel Podence and Leander Dendoncker.
Podence had a shot deflected narrowly wide while in stoppage time Silva glanced a header past the upright from Moutinho’s free kick.
The second half became more open and expansive as both sides created clear-cut chances.
Luiz went close in the 57th minute with Villa’s best chance of the game.
Wolves remained a threat as Adama Traore forced a diving save from Martinez while Pedro Neto’s effort flashed just wide.
Patricio made a brilliant low save to turn Ollie Watkins’ goalbound effort around the post for corner.
Silva, set up by Podence, struck the inside of the upright and Dendoncker brought a brilliant stop from Martinez as it was clearly not Wolves’ day in front of goal.
Luiz saw red in the 86th minute after collecting a second yellow card.
The 10 men stood firm and won a stoppage time penalty when McGinn was brought down by Semedo with El Ghazi scoring the matchwinner in the 94th minute.
Then to round off a miserable afternoon, Wolves had Moutinho sent off in the dying seconds after he, too, collected a second yellow card.