Report | Aston Villa 2-0 Wolves

Two goals, one before and one after halftime, led to Wolves' loss in their away game against Aston Villa in the latest West Midlands derby.

Although Wolves played with enthusiasm and even gave academy striker Leon Chiwome his Premier League debut, Villa emerged victorious at their home ground, Villa Park. Moussa Diaby successfully scored a powerful goal in the first half hour, while Ezri Konsa's accidental cross managed to go past the goal line after hitting the post 30 minutes later.

The Wolves began the game with great energy at Villa Park. Nelson Semedo and Pablo Sarabia were able to make strides down the right side of the field, but they didn't create too much stress for the Aston Villa team.

However, the home team was the one who believed they had scored first within the first 10 minutes of the game. Douglas Luiz seized the opportunity after the Wolves defenders failed to get rid of the ball and hit it hard into the upper part of the net. Nevertheless, luck was on O'Neil's team side as the officials spotted that Ollie Watkins had started his run behind Maximilian Kilman before Luiz scored, resulting in an offside call.

In the first half, the visitors had a great opportunity to score on the 15-minute mark. Santiago Bueno passed the ball into the Villa box, where Rayan Ait-Nouri was waiting unmarked at the far post. With only Emi Martinez to beat, Ait-Nouri took a shot, but Martinez managed to block it with his body and deflect it behind the goal.

During the remaining period of the game, Wolves could only take shots from far away, attempting to score goals. They relied on their players, Mario Lemina, Tommy Doyle, and Sarabia, to attempt to get past Martinez's defense. However, they were unable to significantly challenge the goalkeeper from Argentina.

During the first half of the game, Villa became more self-assured and nearly scored a goal when Watkins, the English forward, found a gap behind Kilman. He had only Sa to beat, but unfortunately missed and shot the ball into the side netting instead. Shortly after, Pau Torres attempted to score a goal with a free-kick, but Sa came up with a great save and blocked it.

However, the home team scored the first goal before halftime. Once again, a free-kick was sent into the Wolves' penalty area, but the defence failed to clear the ball effectively. Eventually, the ball landed at the feet of Diaby, who was positioned around 20 yards away from the goal. He took a moment to settle the ball before striking a fierce shot towards the center of the net. Despite the efforts of the players on the goal line, they could not prevent the ball from hitting the back of the net due to the shot's incredible power.

The game between Aston Villa and Wolves is currently at its half-time mark, with Aston Villa leading 1-0.

After halftime, Villa appeared to be the more dominant team and had an opportunity to increase their lead shortly after. Leon Bailey's cross narrowly missed Diego Carlos' head on the far post, and then Bailey missed the target completely with a shot over the crossbar. The Wolves were caught off guard during these plays.

During the football match, Sarabia had a chance to tie the score for Wolves at the 52 minute mark. This happened after Joao Gomes was fouled by Villa's midfield. Although Sarabia managed to get the ball up and over the wall with his free-kick, he unfortunately wasn't able to keep it low enough to score.

Just as Wolves subbed out Ait-Nouri for Bueno, Villa scored their second goal from the left side of the field. Konsa had some space near Bueno and made a cross towards Johan Duran who was at the far post. Somehow, the ball ended up going over Sa's head and hit the woodwork before crossing the goalline.

Villa came close to scoring another goal just a few minutes later, but Sa made a great save to stop Nicolo Zaniolo. Later on, O'Neil made a lot of substitutions and Wolves tried hard to score and make a comeback.

The greatest chance arose when Matt Doherty, who was playing as the right wing-back, was situated in the centre of the Villa box after receiving a pass from Hugo Bueno. Unfortunately, he failed to score as the ball went above the crossbar despite surpassing the goalkeeper, Martinez.

In the extra time, Wolves had two opportunities to score but unfortunately missed both. Firstly, Lemina had a chance to score as he received a corner from Sarabia, but he headed it wide off the goal. Secondly, Doherty assisted Nathan Fraser, who shot from a close angle, but could only hit the side netting.

The football match between Aston Villa and Wolves ended with Aston Villa winning by two goals. In a game played for the full duration, Aston Villa emerged victorious over Wolves with a scoreline of 2-0.

The Aston Villa lineup for their recent match included Martinez, Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Moreno (who was substituted for Digne in the 63rd minute), Diaby (who was replaced by Iroegbunam in the 87th minute), Luiz, Tielemans, Rogers (who made way for Zaniolo in the 63rd minute), Bailey (who was substituted for Kesler-Hayden in the 90+6th minute), and Watkins (who was replaced by Duran at half-time).

Players who were not used in the game include Olsen, Chambers, Lenglet, and Kellyman.

The Wolves took to the field with a lineup consisting of Sa as the goalkeeper, Semedo, Kilman, S. Bueno, and Toti as defenders. In the midfield, they had Ait-Nouri, Gomes, M. Lemina, and Doyle. Their attacking line included Sarabia and Chiwome. However, as the game progressed, there were some changes made, with H. Bueno, Chirewa, and Fraser making appearances as substitutes for Ait-Nouri, Doyle, and Chiwome, respectively. Traore also made a late appearance, coming on in the 84th minute for Gomes.

Substitutes who did not play in the game were Bentley, Barnett, N. Lemina, and Holman.

Game official | Mr. Paul Tierney