Ollie Watkins’ penalty Aston Villa’s only consolation in loss to Wolves
Aston Villa’s 2-1 loss away to Wolves on Saturday afternoon was their third in a row and sixth in their previous nine matches.
After a home loss to Watford on February 19, Villa strung together three-consecutive victories but have since seen their progress reversed with defeats to West Ham, Arsenal, and now local rivals Wolves.
It’s just been more of the same for Villa, really, with defensive inconsistencies coming back to bite them. Both goals conceded on Saturday came directly via Villa mistakes, a trend that continues to plague Steven Gerrard’s side.
Jonny’s seventh-minute tally capped off a series of follies in midfield and defense, and Ashley Young was credited with an own goal in the 36th minute.
At halftime, Villa were trailing 2-0, and although they undoubtedly looked better in the second half, the ask was too much for a side struggling to score against teams in the top half of the table.
Villa’s only breakthrough came via the penalty spot, when Ollie Watkins grabbed a consolation goal in the 86th minute.
The match’s expected goals (xG) figures suggest Villa were hard done, having generated 1.84 xG to Wolves’ 1.60.
But in truth, Villa were rarely in the driver’s seat and would have been fortunate to rescue a point.
There just seems to be something lacking in the side other than a solid defensive midfielder. That winning mentality just isn’t there yet .
The gaffer spoke about it post game, suggesting his side need to bring more to the pitch for local derbies.
“It was a game we never turned up for from the first whistle,” Gerrard said. “We were playing against Wolves, a local rival, and we tried to prepare in a way to give it a real derby feel. You can’t come to derbies at half-time. We gifted Wolves two goals.
“We decided to have a war with Wolves on the 70th minute. But it was 70 minutes too late.
“The players in the building have got to help me fix it now for the next eight games but, if not, we’ll get players who’ll help me fix it because we can’t keep giving sloppy goals away and gifts.”
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