Aston Villa suffered defeat to Wolves on Saturday as a late Ollie Watkins penalty wasn’t enough to salvage anything in a 2-1 loss at Molineux.
Villa started quite brightly in the opening five minutes as we looked to be on the front foot, but the complexion of the game soon changed as Jonny gave the hosts the lead.
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That was doubled before half-time through Ashley Young’s own goal, and although Watkins converted a late penalty, it was too little too late for us in terms of taking something from the game.
In turn, that’s now three consecutive defeats in the Premier League, and a big opportunity lost to close the gap and try to push ourselves up the table.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Wolves:
Emiliano Martinez, 6 – Little he could have done for either goal as he was beaten by a top finish and an unfortunate own goal. Produced some fine saves to keep us in the game at times as he was the only player to earn plaudits.
Matty Cash, 5 – Quiet afternoon for him in terms of his attacking influence, and as he struggled to push forward with any success, he left the rest of the backline exposed when Wolves countered.
Ezri Konsa, 5 – Lost his footing at a crucial moment in the build up to the first goal, and looked wobbly at other times. Along with the rest of the defence, looked disorganised and disjointed.
Tyrone Mings, 4 – Wasteful in possession, caught out defensively at times and was part of a backline that didn’t provide us with a strong foundation. Disappointing, but certainly not the only one.
Lucas Digne, N/A – Was a real boost to have him back in the starting XI, but his afternoon was cut very short as he went off with a fresh concern.
Morgan Sanson, 5 – While it wasn’t difficult, he was the best of the three in midfield as he showed good touches at times and had the energy to get about the pitch and get stuck into the game. Looked off the pace too though with his lack of playing time and so needs a run of games to reach his peak condition.
John McGinn, 4 – Didn’t look comfortable at all as the No.6, as he struggled to get his positioning right out of possession and was limited in his ability to get us going with the ball. Slipped at a key moment to gift possession to Wolves in the lead up to their first goal, and so it was an afternoon to forget for him.
Jacob Ramsey, 4 – Showed glimpses as he drove forward with the ball and linked play up with some tidy passing, but it was never really anything to truly worry Wolves defensively and we need more than that from him.
Leon Bailey, 4 – Had a big chance to prove to Gerrard that he deserves more playing time, but on the basis of this performance, it’s questionable as to whether he’s made his case any stronger as he was quiet and sloppy throughout.
Philippe Coutinho, 5 – Picked the ball up in good areas on occasion, but was too limited which hurt us given he’s our creative spark in the final third. As our influential playmaker, Coutinho needs to provide more to give the opposition something more to think about as it was too easy for Wolves for the most part.
Ollie Watkins, 5 – Won the penalty which he subsequently converted, but he was guilty of missing two big chances prior to that. He saw the first of those go agonisingly past the post, but at this level and in such big moments that can change a game completely, he has to put those chances away as it proves to be so costly.
Substitutes:
Ashley Young, 4 – Was so poor for the own goal as although you could see what he was trying to do, he got it all wrong and it was another gift of a goal for Wolves.
Douglas Luiz, 4 – Didn’t add a great deal to our play but was an improvement over McGinn.
Emiliano Buendia, 5.5 – Looked lively after coming on, as he played probing balls that created openings and got about the pitch off the ball to give us some much-needed energy and aggression.