Aston Villa made it four wins from five in the Premier League this season after two late goals ensured they defeated local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers by three goals to one. For Villa, the win was their third in a week after beating Everton last Saturday and Young Boys in the UEFA Champions League in midweek. For Wolves, the defeat means they now sit bottom of the Premier League table with just a single point from their opening five matches.
Tricky first half
Despite the fantastic result, it was a very poor first half from the home side. Wolves looked comfortable in and out of possession and posed the much greater goal threat, and deservedly took the lead midway through the first half. A sloppy misplaced pass out from defence by Diego Carlos fell straight into the path of Matheus Cunha who smashed the ball into the bottom corner from outside the area.
Villa struggled to get a grip of the game and didn't have a shot on target and when captain John McGinn suffered what looked like a hamstring injury just before the half was up, it was starting to feel like one of those days. However, despite potential long-term implications, the McGinn injury may have come as a blessing as Emery was forced to change the personnel and system for the second half.
Unai Emery shows why he is an elite football manager
Leon Bailey was brought on to replace John McGinn down Villa's right-hand side at the start of the second half. Ian Maatsen was also introduced in place of Lucas Digne. Right from the off, Villa's press was much more aggressive and the passing between the Wolves defensive lines were more crisp and sharp.
Despite piling the pressure on the Wolves' defence, there was still no real threat to the goal after an hour. So, super-sub Jhon Duran was brought on in place of Jacob Ramsey and Ross Barkley replaced Amadou Onana in midfield. The system change saw Villa go with a more classic 4-4-2 with Duran partnering Watkins up top.
The change worked wonders, and Villa looked threatening every time they got into the Wolves half. With 73 minutes gone, Duran worked hard to win the ball back outside the Wolves penalty area and Rogers then fed the ball through for Ollie Watkins who put the ball into the net via a deflection off Craig Dawson. From that moment all the pressure was coming from Villa and only one team looked like taking the lead.
The second goal came with just two minutes of regular time left to play. Youri Tielemans swung in a cross from the left-hand side with his right foot, and it curled beautifully to the back post where Ezri Konsa was on the hand to slide in and stick the ball into the net. Villa sealed all three points six minutes later when Morgan Rogers produced another assist, this time for the man of the moment, Jhon Duran. Rogers ran in behind the Wolves' defence down the left and slid the ball across for Duran to tap into an empty net and provide the home side with a comfortable two-goal cushion.
What does the result mean for the table?
The result now means Villa have secured 12 points from a possible 15 with the only defeat so far coming against Arsenal. The claret and blue outfit now sits in third place, level on points (for now) with Manchester and Liverpool who make up the top two spots. For Wolves, the early-season woes continued and they now sit rock bottom of the Premier League with just a single point.
There was huge emotion before the game, around the time of kick-off and throughout the match as the tributes poured in for Villa legend Gary Shaw. Shaw, who was a vital part of the hugely successful Villa team in the 1980s, passed away earlier this week at the age of 63. Both teams and their fans paid great respect to the Villa man who scored 73 goals for the club.
UTV