This was a game that spiralled into a spicy contest between rivals separated by a dozen miles, but by then Wolves had already wounded Aston Villa and they eked out a warranted victory to climb to seventh and maintain their hopes of securing a European berth.
Ollie Watkins scored a penalty with four minutes to play to give Villa a whiff of an unlikely point but a seething Steven Gerrard warned his players that more sub-par showings will result in harsh consequences, after Wolves’ first-half evisceration paved the way for Villa to succumb to a third successive defeat.
Jonny leathered in on the half-volley to open the scoring before an Ashley Young own goal doubled Wolves’ advantage on 36 minutes and they should have had at least a three-goal cushion at the interval, Leander Dendoncker skewer wide after a counterattack from a Villa corner before Trincão failed to convert Fábio Silva’s centre on the verge of half-time. Bruno Lage was apoplectic but compared with Gerrard, arms folded in the dugout, his complaints were trivial.
“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 had a major wobble for 10 minutes where it looked nothing like an Aston Villa team.
“At half-time we put ourselves in a really difficult position with a lot to do. You can’t give teams a two-goal start. We could have snatched something at the end – we decided to have a war with Wolves on the 70th minute but [the] 70th minute is too late. At the minute we’re looking like a 45-minute team and that’s on me.
“I’ve got to fix it and I will fix it. The players who are in the building have to help me fix it now, for the next eight games. If not, we’ll get players that will help me to fix it.”
At full time the Wolves captain Conor Coady jumped into Jose Sá’s arms after his goalkeeper prevented Matty Cash from notching a late equaliser.
Wolves collapsed against Leeds last time out, squandering a two-goal lead, and Watkins ensured an anxious finish after winning and then converting a late penalty after a collision with Sá, but the hosts, without Raúl Jiménez and Rúben Neves because of suspension and injury respectively, held on to leapfrog West Ham, who play Everton on Sunday. “It was the same feeling we had in the game against Leeds,” Lage said.
Jonny’s sweet opener stemmed from Silva knocking John McGinn off balance on halfway, allowing the peerless João Moutinho to drive upfield and float a pass towards Daniel Podence, who looked to make the most of an untimely slip by Ezri Konsa.
But while Podence was guilty of overcomplicating things, McGinn able to block his shot before Silva was denied, the ball dropped kindly for Jonny to smack into the corner. Silva then sent a tame shot at Emiliano Martínez.
Leon Bailey prompted a fingertip save from Sá from distance but while the Wolves goalkeeper was untroubled in the first half, he should have been fishing the ball out of his net 11 minutes into the second. Young, who replaced Lucas Digne after 13 minutes, fed Watkins in on goal but the striker fluffed his lines. Watkins attempted to caress a shot into the far corner but dropped his attempt wide of a post. Philippe Coutinho also saw a stinging effort repelled by Sá.
Villa’s waywardness made a mockery of Gerrard’s early gesturing for calm. The Sir Jack Hayward Stand rejoiced as Young’s own goal was replayed in slow motion on the big screens. Marçal, a reliable outlet, galloped down the left flank and his cross bounced dangerously on the edge of the six-yard box, luring Young into heading past Martínez under pressure from Trincão at the back post.
Wolves should have added a third or perhaps even a fourth before Sá was penalised for clashing with Watkins, who nipped in front of the goalkeeper inside the box. Watkins sent Sá the wrong way, his spot-kick going in off a post to set up a nervy finish but Wolves triumphed.
