Aston Villa secured a share of the spoils after a 1-1 draw with Wolves on Sunday, with Pau Torres scoring his first goal for the club.
Villa weren’t at our best in this one as we struggled to build rhythm and sustained pressure, and that in turn contributed to us falling behind in the second half.
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However, the response was immediate as Torres scored his first goal for Villa, and although we pushed in the latter stages and had chances, with Ollie Watkins hitting the post with the final touch of the game, it wasn’t to be as Villa were forced to settle for a point.
Given our struggles in this fixture in recent times, it’s a decent point and we’ll now regroup over the international break while being in a positive place in fifth spot in the Premier League table.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Wolves:
Emiliano Martinez, 7 – Called into action on a couple of occasions, and delivered when needed. Wolves had openings where they were wayward with their finishing, but Martinez’s presence was key to that.
Ezri Konsa, 6.5 – Solid defensively despite his positional change to right-back, tidy in possession and could have won it late on as his effort was saved by Sa.
Diego Carlos, 6.5 – Looked assured in possession as he calmed things down to build our moves, and along with the rest of the defence, put in a good shift to limit Wolves’ threat.
Pau Torres, 7 – Will be disappointed he didn’t do better against Neto in the build-up to the Wolves goal, but he produced a fantastic response as he stabbed home at the back post to register his first Villa goal. Positive aside from that, but defensively still improvements to make.
Lucas Digne, 6.5 – Put in a good performance again as he attacked down our left to create width and provide an attacking outlet. Defended well for the most part, albeit Wolves’ goal came down that left side with Torres left 1v1.
Matty Cash, 6.5 – Moved forward into a more advanced role on the right, and he continues to impress. Will be disappointed he didn’t do better with a couple of chances as he does really well breaking into the box at the back post.
Boubacar Kamara, 6.5 – Did well after picking up an early caution. Always had to be wary from that point onwards, but especially having passed a late fitness test too, did his best to protect the backline and gave us a foothold in the game.
Douglas Luiz, 6.5 – Was sloppy in giving possession away which sparked the move for the Wolves goal. Dictated and controlled possession from midfield for us though, albeit we couldn’t find the quality needed further up the pitch to help prise the hosts open.
John McGinn, 7 – Set the tone early as he got stuck in and battled away. Emphasised prior to the game how we needed to win the fight having conceded early at Molineux in our last two visits, and ensured we didn’t make the same mistake again. Did well to maintain control for us throughout.
Moussa Diaby, 5.5 – Boost to see him start after passing a late fitness test, but it arguably showed in his performance as he was ineffective for much of the game before being replaced on the hour mark.
Ollie Watkins, 6.5 – Struggled for much of the game as he lacked service to provide a threat. However, produced a brilliant delivery to find Torres for our equaliser, and went agonisingly close with the last touch of the game as his header hit the post.
Substitutes:
Nicolo Zaniolo, 5.5 – Battled away in the closing stages to try and create something, and went desperately close himself to a goal with his effort going across goal and wide.
Leon Bailey, N/A
Youri Tielemans, N/A