Aston Villa 2-0 Wolves

Aston Villa took local bragging rights with a comfortable Premier League victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Villa Park on Saturday.

A goal in each half secured a first win against our Midlands rivals since December 2020, with a packed stadium revelling in a strong performance from the hosts.

After Emi Martínez had denied Rayan Aït Nouri with a marvellous save, Moussa Diaby lashed home the opening goal with 36 minutes on the clock.

Ezri Konsa capped a controlled second-half performance from his team when he chipped José Sá to double the lead just after the hour mark.

The victory keeps Villa fourth in the table, three points ahead of fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur.

Villa showed two changes from a 1-1 draw against West Ham United before the international break, with Diaby and Diego Carlos coming into the team in place of Jhon Durán and Clement Lenglet.

The former was heavily involved when the hosts came close to taking the lead after nine minutes, feeding Ollie Watkins before Douglas Luiz buried the rebound from the striker’s shot. The offside flag was quickly raised, however, and replays showed Watkins had strayed a yard beyond the last defender.

Wolves were imposing themselves in the early stages and were only denied the opening goal by a world-class save from Emi Martínez, who spread himself and deflected Aït Nouri’s shot over the bar when the left wing-back seemed destined to score from six yards out.

Villa were finding it difficult to break down the visitors before a through ball from Youri Tielemans carved them open just before the half-hour mark.

The pass set Watkins racing clear of the defence and he bore down on goal before striking the outside of the post after chipping Sá.

Soon after, the home side were rewarded for their best spell of the game when Diaby notched his eighth goal of the season.

A training ground free-kick routine saw Luiz chip the ball to Leon Bailey on the left, and when the winger’s cross was deflected to the edge of the box, the onrushing Frenchman lashed a shot into the net.

Durán replaced Watkins at the break, and the change preceded a tame start to the second half that saw only a tame header from Mario Lemina threatened to trouble the scoreline.

However, the match burst into life once again on 65 minutes when Villa came forward with purpose and scored their second of the game.  

The overlapping Konsa was fed by Diaby and his chipped cross evaded Sá and struck the far post before bouncing over the goal line.

At 2-0 up against a local rival, Villa Park was bouncing as their side continued to look for more goals, piling on the pressure and seeing Nicolò Zaniolo go close to netting number three.

Homegrown defender Kaine Kesler-Hayden was handed his Premier League debut in stoppage time to round off a positive night for Villa.