Aston Villa manager Dean Smith said his side paid for a lack of desire in their West Midlands derby defeat at Wolves.

Villa, who remain 17th in the Premier League - three points above the bottom three - were second best for long periods against the hosts, with Trezeguet’s late consolation goal adding a flattering complexion to the scoreline.

And while Villa were without several regular starters, Smith said the media would not be able to “print” what he told his players after a disappointing first half.

“The game seemed bigger to them than it was to us,” Smith said.

“We were poor and they [the players] got a reminder at half-time that they must win their duels and compete. You can’t give any team a 45 minute head start and all I took from the first half was we were only 1-0 down.

“In the second half we got a better performance but it didn’t take much to achieve that.”

Wolves, who climbed from 15th up to eighth, to move into the top half of the Premier League for the first time since the opening weekend, were always in control.

Inside a raucous Molineux, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side repeatedly carved the visitors open, but had to wait until the stroke of half-time to open the scoring.

Joao Moutinho’s clever free-kick, deceived the Villa defence and allowed Ruben Neves to whip a right-foot effort into the bottom right corner from 18-yards.

Adama Traore went close to adding a second for the hosts after the break, while Brazilian forward Wesley curled Villa’s best chance over.

Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota also missed good opportunities before Jimenez’s sweeping right-foot shot confirmed Wolves first top flight win over Villa since 1978.

Traore terrorises former employers

This was another performance that suggested Wolves are now up and running after their slow start to the season.

Already on the brink of reaching the Europa League knockout stages, Nuno’s side are now unbeaten in seven Premier League matches and were worthy winners against out-of-sorts opponents.

It was one-way traffic in the first half as Jota, Jimenez and Matt Doherty all failed to convert chances that could have put the hosts out of sight by the interval.

With the game being played almost exclusively in the Villa half the visitors did not manage an effort on goal until the half-hour mark.

“We played very well, we dominated the game, especially in the first half. I’m happy with the performance and atmosphere,” said Nuno.

“We’re happy because we made the second goal and could have made more.”

Another feature throughout was the sight of Adama Traore, who has been called up to the Spain squad, terrorising the Villa defence.

The 23-year-old, who scored in his one and only start during his time at Villa Park, repeatedly skipped past Matt Targett and his replacement Neil Taylor.

Traore’s searing pace also created Jimenez’s decisive second goal, with the winger eluding Douglas Luiz, before picking out the Mexican on the left-side of the penalty area.

It capped a fine individual display from Traore, who is now beginning to fulfil the potential he exhibited in Barcelona’s ‘La Masia’ youth system.

Villa flatter to deceive

Aston Villa made the 20-mile trip to Molineux looking to do a double over Wolves having knocked their local rivals out of the Carabao Cup 11 days ago.

However, they delivered a disjointed and disappointing performance and struggled to gain any sort of foothold in the game until the final quarter.

The absence of the injured Heaton and defender Björn Engels were keenly felt at the back, while without Grealish, their was a distinct lack of spark to their attacking.

John McGinn struggled to impose himself in midfield, while Marvelous Nakamba was a peripheral figure and was later replaced by Henri Lansbury.

They were also not helped by an early injury to replacement goalkeeper, Jed Steer, which saw Norwegian Orjan Nyland, make his first appearance for almost 12 months.

While Trezeguet did offer some threat down the flank, the Egyptian did not come to the fore until Villa were chasing an equaliser late in the game.
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*The Guardian*
*Sunday, 10 November 2019*

Rúben Neves fires spectacular opener as Wolves triumph over Villa in derby

On Thursday Nuno Espírito Santo ordered Rúben Neves to do extra shooting practice after the midfielder fluffed a penalty here in the Europa League. In the 41st minute of this West Midlands derby, Neves demonstrated the value of that fine-tuning by firing the ball into the net from over 20 yards. That gave Wolves a deserved lead and Raúl Jiménez, after thrilling work by Adama Traoré, struck in the the 84th minute to confirm the win that propelled Nuno’s team to eighth in the table despite a stoppage-time goal by Trézéguet. So much for Wolves’ season being undermined by their Europa League exertions.

“This was our 24th match of the season and we have always competed in every one – that is not easy to do,” said Nuno, praising his team’s consistency in the face of a gruelling schedule.

Dean Smith’s mood was much darker. “That was as bad as I’ve seen us since [a 3-0 defeat at] Wigan away last season,” said the furious Villa manager. “It almost looked like the match was more important to them than to us. They were right up for it from the start and had more intensity than us.”

Wolves’ only defeat in their last dozen games in all competitions was to Villa in the Carabao Cup two weeks ago. A repeat of that never looked likely here, not least because the lineups were radically different. After fielding a youthful side at Villa Park, Nuno made 11 changes and deployed his top guns. They fairly blew away Villa, who, in fairness, were also afflicted by rotten luck. “I’m not using injuries as an excuse because we have a deep squad,” said Smith.

Even so, they could have done with Jack Grealish but he had not recovered from calf trouble in time, and centreback Bjorn Engels and goalkeeper Tom Heaton were also ruled out, the latter with a calf injury that means Gareth Southgate will have to replace him in the England squad. Ezri Konsa came into defence for his first Premier League start and did well, while goalkeeper Jed Steer made his first top-flight appearance since May 2015.

Steer lasted eight minutes, forced off by an achilles injury after backpedalling to try to claw away a cross by Matt Doherty, which ended up bouncing out off the crossbar. Villa had to resort to their third-choice goalkeeper, Orjan Nyland, who has only recently returned from achilles trouble himself.

Some teams would have tried to test the new goalkeeper’s mettle by bombarding him with shots pronto. But Wolves rarely deviate from their methodical approach so continued trying to slice and dice their opponents with clever passing and movement. They were dominant, but Nyland did not have a save to make until nearly 20 minutes after his introduction. Diogo Jota’s header was so soft it barely qualified as a test.

Wolves continually found space down the wings, especially on the right, where Doherty and Traoré thrived. Doherty howled for a penalty after tangling with Matt Targett in the box following a snappy one-two with Jiménez. The referee saw nothing wrong.
If it had been a penalty, Jiménez would have taken it. Nuno confirmed that after seeing Neves’ botched spotkick in the Europa League victory over Slovan Bratislava. Neves evidently followed orders to practise because his goal did not come off the cuff.
After Tyrone Mings stopped a trademark Traoré charge with a desperate lunge, Moutinho enacted a nifty free-kick routine, playing a disguised pass from wide on the right to Neves at the edge of the D. Neves curled a sumptuous shot into the net. Nyland got fingertips to it but a fat lot of good that did.

Villa had been toothless. Now they would have to find some bite and start finding each other with passes. Their luck deteriorated before half-time, as injury to Targett compelled them to make a second substitution. Villa improved after the break but Wolves remained dangerous on the counter-attack. Traoré walloped a shot against the bar six minutes into the second period. Traoré launched into another devastating run in the 64th minute, leading to a chance for Jota. Nyland did well to tip over his rasping shot from the edVilla did not work a clear opening until the 54th minute, when Anwar El Ghazi found Wesley in the same spot as Neves had been when he opened to scoring. The Villa striker’s finish bore no comparison, sailing into the jeering hordes in the north bank.
Moments later Jimenez shanked wide after another shot by Jota was deflected into his path.

Traoré was inevitably involved in the goal that ended his former club’s resistance. He skipped past Douglas Luiz down the right before measuring out a cross to Jiménez, who slotted into the net from 10 yards. That meant it did not matter that Trézéguet forced the ball over the line in stoppage time after collecting a corner beyond the back post.
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*Sky Sports*
*Sunday, 10 November 2019*

Wolves took the West Midlands bragging rights as they beat Aston Villa 2-1 in the Premier League, extending their unbeaten run to seven top-flight games.

It was a terrible first half for Aston Villa, who were forced into two substitutions due to injury. The first was inside seven minutes as Jed Steer was taken off, before Ruben Neves’ (41) fine finish deservedly put Wolves ahead.

Matt Targett then picked up an eye injury in added time and was unable to continue as two of Dean Smith’s three changes were used before the break.

Villa performed better in the second half but just as they were getting on top, Raul Jimenez (84) swept home to double Wolves’ lead, scoring in a third successive game in all competitions. It was a nervy finish for the hosts too as goal-line technology awarded Trezeguet a 92nd-minute goal, but Villa could not complete the comeback.

The win sees Wolves extend their unbeaten Premier League run to seven games - the first time they have done so in England’s top flight since 1974 - and sends them into eighth on 16 points. Aston Villa remain in 17th and have now lost their last three league games.

It was the worst possible start for Aston Villa, who were already missing Tom Heaton due to a calf injury, as replacement goalkeeper Steer was injured early on. It looked to be an innocuous move as he tracked back to keep a Matt Doherty shot out - which ended up hitting the bar - but as he landed onto the floor after stretching to make the save, his hand shot up for the medics. Not long after, he hobbled off the field with third-choice stopper Orjan Nyland coming on.

Wolves dominated the first half chances and went close in the 20th minute. Neves scooped a wonderful ball into the area, picking out Jonny on the left. However, his strike pinged off Frederic Guilbert into the middle of the area for the waiting Jimenez, but his effort just skimmed past the post.

The host had a plethora of other chances - Jimenez and Diogo Jota both going close - but they eventually made the breakthrough in the 41st minute. A crunching tackle from Tyrone Mings on Adama Traore gave Wolves the free-kick and Joao Moutinho surprised the pack inside the box by taking it short to the waiting Neves at the top of the area. He then floated the ball through the area with some real power, lifting it into the middle of the net as Molineux erupted.

Aston Villa suffered another injury blow in first-half added time. Targett was caught in the face by Doherty and looked to have an issue with his vision with the medics deciding he could not continue. He was replaced by Neil Taylor in the second minute of injury time as Villa were already two substitutions down at the break.

Wolves had two huge chances to double their lead at the start of the second half. In the 50th minute, Traore pinged an effort off the woodwork before Nyland was forced into a wonderful save 15 minutes later as Jota send a thunderous strike his way, but he raised his arms high to push the effort over the crossbar.

Aston Villa started to pile the pressure on as the half wore on, although did not have many clear cut chances and it was Wolves who then doubled their lead. Neves won the ball back at the top of his own area before setting Traore away down the right-hand side. He skipped past Douglas Luiz before getting into the area and cutting the ball back for the waiting Jimenez, who swept home for his 13th goal of the season.

But Villa were not to go quietly and scored a bizarre goal in the second minute of added time. Trezeguet volleyed home a corner, which beat Rui Patricio at the near post before Ryan Bennett hacked the ball away on the line. However, the Villa midfielder was screaming for it to stand and he was rewarded when goal-line technology confirmed the ball had crossed the line - by some way too - but Villa could not find another to take a point from Molineux.

Traore went into Sunday’s game with something to prove. He had a torrid time as an Aston Villa player, making just 11 appearances with no goals, and would have wanted to follow his first Spain call-up in midweek with a good performance against his former side.
And, like many players in the Wolves side, Traore did do well. He had a hand in both goals, winning the free-kick for the opening before using his lightning quick pace to hit Aston Villa on the break and provide the assist for Jimenez’s goal. He also provided seven crosses for his team - all of which came from open play - and won 75 per cent of his duels, which was the highest in the Wolves team.

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith: “The first 45 minutes was probably the worst we’ve had. We didn’t win any duels, any second balls and we kept giving them the ball back so they kept attacking us. The only thing I got out of the first half was that we were only 1-0 down.

“In the second half, I thought we came out and at least made a game of it. We had some chances, they had some chances on the counter as well and the second goal was the one that killed the game really.

“I felt like it would have been us that got the next goal, we kept pushing and we had a good go in the second half, but you can’t give anyone a 45 minute head start and we did that to Wolves today.”