Wolves vs Aston Villa result: Player ratings as two sent off and late penalty wins the day for visitors

Wolverhampton Wanderers suffered an injury-time 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday in the Premier League.

Fabio Silva, leading the home side’s line in place of the injured Raul Jiminez, came closest to opening the scoring for the home side when his strike hit the post, before Anwar El Ghazi netted the winning penalty in the 94th minute.

After a first half that saw just two shots on target – both by Wolves – the main talking points surrounded potential penalties for handball, but neither team had successful appeals.

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Wolves came close to scoring in the second half, with Leander Dendoncker coming closest late on but Emi Martinez played exceptionally well. Villa then saw Douglas Luiz sent-off in the closing stages for a second yellow card, before Nelson Semedo’s foul in the box handed Villa the three points and Joao Moutinho was sent-off too in a chaotic ending.

Here are the player ratings from the game at Molineux.

Wolves

Rui Patricio – 6. The Portuguese international had nothing to do throughout until the penalty which beat him.

Nelson Semedo – 5. Semedo clearly wants to get forward but he wasn’t able to on this occasion, aside from a crack at goal in the second half. He did well to deal with Grealish but the fouled McGinn in the box to concede the vital spot-kick.

Conor Coady – 7. The England defender was commanding at the back before hurting his nose in action.

Marcal – 7. He kept Watkins quiet, and did enough to vindicate Nuno’s decision to leave out Boly.

Romain Saiss – 6. Struggled at times with Villa’s wingers, but ultimately did enough.

Joao Moutinho – 7. The central-midfielder provided some elegance and allowed Wolves to tick over, but was sent-off in the closing seconds after a second booking.

Leander Dendoncker – 7. The Belgian allowed Moutinho and Podence to add the flair to Wolves’ play, whilst he was happy to do the dirty work in midfield. Booked late in the second half.

Adama Traore – 5. The Spanish international was threatening, but as always when it comes to Traore, there was no end product. He was incredibly wasteful in the second half, shooting poorly from distance when better options were available. Booked.

Daniel Podence – 8. The tricky forward juked away and unleashed a fierce strike on goal, only to be denied by a fine Martinez stop. He was the most dangerous player on the pitch, and nearly assisted Silva.

Pedro Neto – 7. The winger was dangerous throughout, and almost scored a beauty just after the hour when he cut inside and almost bent it into the corner.

Fabio Silva – 6. The teenage striker took a while to get up to speed in the game, but began to show signs of his ability towards the end of the first half. He was denied a first Premier League goal by the post, and his clever overhead kick lacked power.

Substitutes

Ruben Neves – 6.

Aston Villa

Emiliano Martinez – 9. He had little to do in the first half hour, but made a great save to deny Podence and then saved incredibly from Dendoncker.

Matty Cash – 6. Got forward well, but was caught out defensively at times. Booked for a challenge on Neto.

Ezri Konsa – 7. Konsa was strong in the air, and was a threat going forward, too – his header almost crept into the corner in the first half.

Tyrone Mings – 7. He was solid throughout, and dealt with Fabio Silva well.

Matt Targett – 7. Targett was a committed and hard tackler, and provided some dangerous crosses for Watkins.

Douglas Luiz – 6. The Brazilian didn’t influence the midfield battle perhaps as well as he would have liked, but he came close to scoring in the second half with an effort from distance. Booked.

John McGinn – 7. McGinn started brightly, and was ever-present for Villa as they looked to get a result from the derby. Booked.

Jacob Ramsey – 5. He had a couple of chances, but the young midfielder was generally outclassed in a scrappy encounter.

Bertrand Traore – 6. The summer signing was quiet throughout, but showed some exceptional skill to win a corner, flicking the ball over his head and knocking it around the defender.

Jack Grealish – 6. A day to forget for the blossoming England star, who failed to provide any end-product although he almost caught out Patricio with a cheeky free-kick.

Ollie Watkins – 6. He did well with what he could – his dangerous run late in the first half was evidence of this – but Watkins was ultimately not afforded any space by Wolves.

Substitutes 

Anwar El Ghazi – 6. Not much impact… until he netted the stoppage-time match-winner!

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