Express & Star

Wolves Fans' Verdict v Aston Villa: Fantastic victory!

Our Wolves supporters give their verdict on the 1-0 win against Villa.

Published

Matt Cooper (Talking Wolves)

Reaction to the Result

Well it was men against boys out there today as Wolves showed the gulf in class between the two sides.

Considering the amount of games Wolves have played already this season, you’d have thought it was Villa who were suffering from fatigue.

Wolves completely dominated the first half and it could’ve been 4 or 5.

Notching a goal on the score line really did flatter Villa and it’s a good win heading into the international break.

Man of the Match

Joao Moutinho - I don’t care what the costs are, tie this man down to a new contract!

For most of the game He was all over Villa like a wet flannel and battled ferociously.

His passing and game management is a delight to watch. He really is football heaven.

Something to Improve

That first half performance was the best I’ve seen Wolves for some time and it was up there with the first half of the 3-0 win over Arsenal last season.

If only Wolves could take their chances! The game could’ve been out of sight should Wolves have been more clinical.

Clive Smith

Reaction to the Result

It was pleasing to play well and get a win. Too often recently our points tally has not matched our performance.

2-1 does not reflect how we totally dominated the game and were far better than Villa.

For long periods of the game the greatest danger to us winning was from the inconsistent ref.

Man of the Match

It was as refreshing to see so much attacking in the first half. Doc, Traore, Jota and Jimenez were all full steam ahead in that period. Neves and Moutinho were an 8/10.

Dendoncker grew into the game and looked as good as he has ever done in that position.

MOTM goes to Coady who was in a physical challenge throughout but won that battle, while playing several wonderful passes as well.

Something to Improve

Sounding like a broken record, but our finishing let us down, again today. The game should have been put to bed by half time and saved our nerves.

Adam Virgo

Reaction to the Result

A brilliant performance, deserved three points, we scored in the first half for once and we’re now up to eighth in the league, you love to see it.

We controlled the game completely, Villa were awful and in the end we took advantage of that.

It would have been nice to take a few more chances but we got the win and today was much more important than the cup game the other week.

It’s mad that we’ve only won three times in the league and we’re 8th but we are improving more and more, especially with this 343 formation.

Man of the Match

Neves and Moutinho were absolutely excellent in midfield, both played a big part for the first goal and they simply controlled the game for fun.

Nakamba, McGinn and Luiz couldn’t handle them all afternoon, the strike from Neves was fabulous and it was good quick thinking from his midfield partner.

Traoré was also excellent, deserved Spain call up for him, he caused major problems for Villa and he did superb for the second goal.

Something to Improve

This performance was one of our best this season so there isn’t too much to fault except being a bit less wasteful with opportunities.

There were plenty of times we could have done better with certain chances and killed the game off quicker than we did because at 1-0 they were always in the game regardless of how poor they were but we got the second eventually.

Rob Cartwright

Reaction to the Result

We maintained the impetus from Arsenal last Sunday and dominated the play for the whole of the first half.

We were genuinely disappointed to be only 1-0 ahead at the break and this lead to a nervous second half, as Wolves created chance after chance without scoring while Villa were getting more into the game, without really creating anything.

The potential for another 1-1 draw was in the back of my mind.

Cometh the hour, comedy the man. Step forward Adama Traore.

He had terrorised Matt Targett throughout the first half and he clearly didn’t fancy another 45 minutes of that so went off injured just before half-time.

No-one in a claret shirt got even close, without fouling him; often taking on 3 players in the same move.

On 84 minutes, he ran three quarters of the length of the pitch with the ball and pulled the cross back along the ground perfectly for Jimenez to slot home. Game over!

Man of the Match

He’s 5 foot 7 of football heaven - Joao Moutinho was superb from start to finish. He gets things going for Wolves and keeps us in possession.

He’s added steel with some tenacious tackling and he won possession from Villa’s midfield on numerous occasions in this game.

Two other players stood out for me too. Dendoncker had a commanding performance in defence. His swap from midfield has mitigated the loss of Boly. He showed confidence playing in a very assured way.

Traore has silenced his critics. Transformed from a bit part player to one of our most vital assets. He has learnt to conserve energy and can now complete the full game.

He won the free kick which lead to the first goal and made the assist for the winner.

Something to Improve

We really should have won the game in the first hour.

I was frustrated, as time after time we attacked with pace down either side but had hardly any players in the Villa box to get on the end of the ball in. Where is the midfield player making the late run?

That said, when Moutinho took the free kick for the first goal every Villa player was in their box but we had only 4. Of course, eves was handily placed outside the box to take the squared ball. We all knew the ending to that move.

Russ Evers (Hatherton Wolves)

Reaction to the Result

The unbeaten league run continues but in fairness this could have been any score.

Wolves dominated a really poor Villa side who point to the lack of Grealish without acknowledging we were missing the colossus Willy Boly Wolves were too fast, too strong and wanted it more than a side who look like relegation fodder on this showing.

How we only won 2-1 is a mystery as this could have been another 9-0 job with VAR being easily the best Villa player on show and the ref a close second.

For the first time in ages, Wolves began on the front foot and what a difference it makes !

Man of the Match

Who played well -for the third time in a row-everyone but Moutinho, Dendoncker, Doherty and Neves stood out.

Apparently when the random drug test called Moutinho through, he emptied his pockets to show a set of car keys, thirty quid, an I-phone and John Mcginn.

Well that's the word around Rocket Pool anyway

Something to Improve

Probably to make the most of the chances we created as this could have been a cricket score.

Still, 2-1 will do Andy Harding and I as we had 2-1 with Ruben Neves as first goalscorer on the scorecast. Happy days

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