TEN MAN Wolves survived a late Villa onslaught to share the spoils at the end of a bad tempered West Midlands derby.
But boy they lived dangerously as Ollie Watkins almost stole all three points for Villa when his header bounced off the base of Jose Sa’s post – in the 12th minute of stoppage time!
And the bad blood between this pair continued at the final whistle when Unai Emery and Gary O’Neil refused to shake hands, before Emery stormed up the tunnel.
Mario Lemina had already made the same journey following a red card for a second bookable offence when he tugged at Douglas Luiz’s shorts late on.
Hwang Hee-chan thought he had earned Wolves a precious win when he opened the scoring to become the first Wolves player since John Richards, to net in five home games on the spin, since 1973.
But Wolves lead only lasted two minutes before Pau Torres grabbed an equaliser for Villa.
Both of these Midlands rivals came into this derby on a high, brimming with confidence after a productive week.
Wolves returned to Molineux on the back of inflicting Manchester City’s first defeat of the season.
Villa meanwhile had a spring in their step after following up their 6-1 mauling of Brighton with a dramatic last gasp Euro win over Zrinjski.
However there was little quality on show during a feisty first half of thud and blunder derby football.
FREE BETS – BEST BETTING OFFERS AND BONUSES NEW CUSTOMERS
Villa started brightly enough and Pau Torres flashed an early header wide after Lucas Digne worked a short corner with Moussa Diaby.
Then John McGinn picked out Matty Cash as the full-back steamed in at Wolves back post to force a fine save from Jose Sa.
McGinn was beginning to pull the strings for Villa and Sa was relieved to see a blistering effort from the Scot fly inches wide.
Joao Goes then invited the Scot to have another go when he surrendered the ball cheaply but the Villa midfielder fired over from 22 yards.
McGinn then incensed the Wolves support by indulging in a spot of WWF with Craig Dawson at several Wolves corners.
However as the ball wasn’t in play as the pair wrestled with each other, there was little referee Rob Jones could do to deal with the battling pair other than constantly warn them.
Eventually the official did get his own back by booking Dawson for a foul on Ollie Watkins, swiftly followed by a card for McGinn for bringing down Pedro Neto.
It took Wolves 34 minutes to have their first decent attempt on goal when Hwang Hee-chan picked out Ait-Nouri at the near post.
But the Algerian international shot wide of the far post and the left-back never made it out for the second half, after failing to recover from a head knock.
It was a scrappy affair although Ollie Watkins forced Sa into a fantastic save from his first time shot after McGinn had set the striker up, just after the break.
Hwang then received treatment for a nose-bleed caused by Douglas Luiz.
However he gained revenge with the goal which finally broke the deadlock after 53 minutes to finally light up this dour Midlands derby.
The South Korean forward actually began the move when he robbed Douglas Luiz in the middle of the park.
The ball was ushered out wide to Pedro Neto who left Pau Torres for dead before delivering a brilliant cross which deflected off Digne.
Hwang managed to steal in front of Ezri Konsa to force the ball beyond Martinez to the delight of the home fans.
However Villa’s response was swift and effective as they drew level two minutes later.
Wolves were caught napping as Villa took a quick free kick and Ollie Watkins cross picked out Pau Torres, who beat Semedo to force the ball beyond Sa.
It was instant redemption for the Spaniard who netted his first ever Villa goal.
And it earned him a partial reprieve from Unai Emery who had been furious with him for his part in Wolves opener.
Lemina then sparked a flurry of bookings when he fouled Luiz – which turned out to be a costly one.
Because four minutes into stoppage time he received a second yellow for tugging at Nicolo Zaniolo’s shorts.
That almost proved costly for Wolves as Villa surged forward in an attempt to grab a winner in 12 minutes of added time!
Watkins fired into the side net, Zaniolo fired just wide following a Bailey corner and Wolves breathed a huge sigh of relief when Watkins’ header beat Sa only gto bounce to safety off the base of his post.
Here’s how the action unfolded…
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
