Aston Villa fell to a 2-0 defeat to Wolves on Saturday, in another bitterly disappointing setback in our Premier League campaign.
After the high of our win over Celtic in the Champions League in midweek, there was a familiar story this weekend as we slipped up domestically with another poor performance.
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Having conceded early again and struggled throughout the first half to produce any real quality, there was an improvement after half-time, but Villa failed to find a breakthrough.
In turn, it’s another frustrating defeat as we missed the chance to close the gap on those above us in the standings, with Unai Emery and the players having plenty to assess and correct ahead of our upcoming fixtures.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Wolves:
Emiliano Martinez, 5 – Produced some important stops, but will know he should have done better to prevent the goal having been beaten at his near post. Proved to be the decisive moment in the game, and that’s when he usually steps up and makes the difference.
Andres Garcia, 5 – Showed promise going forward in his Villa debut, but was sloppy in possession at times and defensively caught out. A starting point for him as he continues to adapt following his arrival last month.
Ezri Konsa, 5 – Made some key interventions, but that was matched with some risky play as he was almost punished for sloppy decisions before failing to clear the danger prior to the second goal. Has a huge task given our current injury troubles, but has to set a higher standard.
Boubacar Kamara, 5 – While he’s usually excellent regardless of position, this game exposed his shortcomings as a makeshift centre-half. Caught out in behind for the goal as his positioning and lack of pace were key issues.
Lucas Digne, 5 – Steady performance in the first half as he played it safe for the most part, but replaced at the break as he didn’t offer enough going forward.
Lamare Bogarde, 5 – Emery again insists on playing him at right-back after his reshuffle at half-time, and it just doesn’t work. Struggled in midfield too prior to that in this one before being replaced in the latter stages.
Youri Tielemans, 6 – By no means one of his better performances, but cut through the lines with some incisive passing as one of the few to add rhythm and cohesion to our play to try and get us going.
John McGinn, 5 – Added energy and tenacity in the midfield battle, but it wasn’t enough to help us get a foothold and control the game, while his early caution hindered him as the encounter went on.
Morgan Rogers, 5 – Struggled to have much of an influence as our passing lanes were restricted and he couldn’t find space between the lines to provide a threat in the final third. A learning experience for him on how to adapt and adjust to the opposition’s gameplan to limit his impact.
Jacob Ramsey, 5 – Similar story to Rogers, albeit he was more effective in possession on occasion, but Emery replaced him at half-time as part of his sweeping changes to get us going.
Ollie Watkins, 5 – Lack of service as he looked isolated up top and couldn’t link our play together effectively. Appeared to be struggling with a groin issue and was taken off during the break as a precaution.
Substitutes:
Donyell Malen, 7 – Positive influence on our play in the second half, and was harshly denied an equaliser for an offside in the build-up to his finish. Promising signs as he continues to integrate and adapt.
Leon Bailey, 6 – Showed glimpses of his quality as he played with positive intent and switched play effectively, but lacked the quality end product to go with that to make the difference as his impact tailed off as the second half went on.
Ian Maatsen, 6 – Similar story to Bailey in that he added freshness and impetus on the flank to give us a new dynamic, but there was no final ball to make it count.
Amadou Onana, 6 – Added physical presence in midfield which helped us dominate and build sustained pressure, but not enough to help us get the desired result.
Kosta Nedeljkovic, N/A