Wolves bounced back from their heavy defeat to Brighton last weekend to dent Aston Villa’s European ambitions with 1-0 win at Molineux.
Toti Gomes’ early header looped over Emiliano Martinez and Wolves proceeded to hold on for the win – their seventh victory without conceding in nine games at Molineux. The derby win was met with jubilant scenes by Julen Lopetegui and his staff at the final whistle.
Aston Villa desperately needed the points as they seek to secure European football at Villa Park next season but found it difficult against resilient opposition, Tyrone Mings wasting their best chance of the game when he fired over from close range late on.
The result sees Wolves move to 40 points, above Bournemouth and into 13th place in the Premier League table. Villa miss the chance to move up from eighth and remain one point behind Brighton, with the south-coast side now having three games in hand.
How Wolves frustrated Villa
Aston Villa began the game playing with the sort of confidence one might expect of a team that had lost only one of their previous 11 games but they conceded from Wolves’ first attack when the recalled Toti headed in Ruben Neves’ right-wing corner.
Villa pushed and probed for the remainder of the half with Ollie Watkins having the best opportunity to level things up, his firm header from Jacob Ramsey’s cross directed straight at Jose Sa. The Wolves goalkeeper produced a better save to keep out Emi Buendia.
At the other end, Lopetegui’s team tested Villa’s high line often enough to keep the home fans interested in a second goal, Matheus Cunha shooting just over. But the pattern was set for the second half with Villa pushing and Wolves looking for the counter-attack.
They found it early on when the impressive Pedro Neto put Diego Costa away in the left channel but his shot was saved by Martinez. That almost proved costly for Wolves when Mings had a volleyed chance from six yards but cleared the crossbar.
But Villa, denied space in behind, were unable to create anything particularly clear-cut. With Tottenham winning, their chances of Europe look bleaker now. For Wolves, there is relief and pride that Lopetegui, who took over with them bottom, has turned it around.
What’s next?
Wolves head to top-four hopefuls Manchester United on Saturday May 13, kick-off 3pm.
Aston Villa return to Villa Park on the same day where they host Tottenham in an important top-six fixture. Kick-off 3pm.
Wolves’ remaining fixtures
May 13: Man Utd (A) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Everton (H) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: Arsenal (A) – Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
Aston Villa’s remaining fixtures
May 13: Tottenham (H) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Liverpool (A) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 28: Brighton (H) – Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm