Wolves win fiery Midlands derby against fancied rivals Aston Villa

Max Davis

Diego Costa of Wolves and Tyrone Mings of Aston Villa clash during the Premier League match at MolineuxProfimedia

The 135th West Midlands derby between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa ended with a 1-0 victory for Julen Lopetegui’s side - a thunderous early header from Toti handing Wolves a fourth consecutive win without conceding at Molineux.

Fresh off their 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Brighton last weekend, Wolves were looking for an immediate response, and this looked to be the perfect opportunity against a Villa side whom they have defeated in four of their last five home matches.

The visitors started off livelier than their opponents, but the home side dusted off the South coast cobwebs with an opener in the first 10 minutes.

With most players distracted by the incessant tussling going on in the Villa box, Toti ghosted in behind Tyrone Mings to head Rúben Neves’ corner in off the bar to get those in Old Gold in the stands up on their feet.

Only two Premier League (PL) sides had scored fewer league goals than Wolves this season, and so they were content to defend their lead rather than push to extend it.

Villa seized control, and José Sá had to produce a fantastic save to prevent Emiliano Buendía’s long range strike from arrowing into the far corner.

Buendía continued to be a nuisance, and when he wasn’t taking on chances himself he was setting them up, including when Ollie Watkins hit acrobatically wide. There was another chance for Watkins before the break, but he couldn’t end his run of three games without a goal as he headed Jacob Ramsey’s cross straight at Sá.

With their surge from relegation candidates to European contenders under Unai Emery, Villa hadn’t trailed at HT in 11 PL matches before last week, but they now found themselves in that position in two outings in a row.

However, their intent to avoid the same fate as they did at Manchester United last weekend resulted in their being vulnerable to the Wolves counter, and chances for Diego Costa and Matheus Cunha on the break went begging. The visitors struggled to forge meaningful chances as Wolves defended valiantly, but they came closest when Mings hit Douglas Luiz’s ball over the bar.

Villa peppered the opposition box with crosses in the final 10 minutes, but Wolves’ defenders put their bodies on the line to preserve yet another clean sheet on home turf.

The three points might be all Lopetegui needs to see his side secure a PL berth for next season, and that might be guaranteed this weekend based on results elsewhere.

Villa meanwhile suffered another blow to their European aspirations, with their 10-match unbeaten streak followed by two consecutive defeats that have seen them fail to score.