Wolves likely have the most OTT entrance music in the Premier League: a drum’n’bass version of Whole Lotta Love belted out over a back drop of pitchside flamethrowers and lightning flashes on the hoardings. You half expect WWE wrestlers to emerge from the tunnel, not a football team, but on this night Wolves lived up to the bombast and delivered a full metal racket of a performance to take a desperately needed three points.
A crashing drive from Jean Ricner-Bellegarde after a sweeping move across the field looked to have been enough to decide this game, only for Matheus Cunha to make it safe for Vitor Pereira’s side with a fabulous solo goal in added time. He twisted he turned, he held the ball up, then the Brazilian finally fired across Emiliano Martínez inside the far post, inspiring excelsis in the Jack Hayward stand.
Related: Wolves v Aston Villa: Premier League – live
For Villa this was an unwelcome continuation of their stuttering league form, and with Ollie Watkins amongst four players to be withdrawn at half-time, the message seemed to be that this was one high intensity fixture too far for Unai Emery’s men.
Wolves should have had the three points wrapped up, stamped first class and sent to Premier League HQ way before the half-time whistle was blown. They were sharper, more determined and for a side that had lost their past four matches it was striking how slick they were too.
The only goal to show for their play came in the 12th minute and it was a beauty. Building on the left-hand side the ball was worked to Cunha about 25 yards out. The Brazilian, always with one eye on an opportunity, slipped the ball to Gonçalo Guedes who quickly bounced it back to Pablo Sarabia who was standing centrally on the tip of the D.
The Spaniard looked up, saw Bellegarde bombing on down the right and slipped a pass inside Lucas Digne to the Frenchman. Bellegarde was challenged as he went for the ball and could have more easily slipped a pass across the box and back to Guedes. But instead, he chose to shoot, and the ball flashed inside Emiliano Martínez’s near post decisively for his second Premier League goal of the season.
Sadly for the hosts, the quality of their finishing declined after that, despite numerous chances to double their advantage. Cunha was the culprit in the 36th minute, tussling with Boubacar Kamara before coming clear with the ball and one-on-one with Martínez, only for the Argentine to swat the shot with his legs.
Then it was Guedes who became the fall guy, the Portuguese forward spurning two chances just as good as Cunha’s. Since arriving for nearly £30m three years ago, Guedes has scored as many times in the Premier League as he has had birthdays. Here he placed a shot wide of the far post while one-on-oneclear on goal with a minute left of the half, then, in added time, had another effort saved point blank by Martínez. There was extra poignancy from the fact that, beyond the actual outcome, Guedes did everything right in both moments.
Aston Villa’s poor form in the weekends following Champions League fixtures ironically offered the visitors some hope.
Their only win in the eight matches they had played to this point had come at home to Wolves in September, a 3-1 victory after being behind at the break.
Whether Emery took confidence from this omen, or was rather more desperate, he shook his team up entirely at the break, making a quadruple substitution.
One of those replacements, Donyell Malen, had the ball in the net seven minutes later; the Dutchman tucking away the finish after a cutely worked set piece. Unfortunately for the forward, recently recruited from Dortmund, an offside Morgan Rogers was adjudged to have impeded Nélson Semedo in the buildup and the goal was disallowed on the field, with VAR backing up the decision.
Villa tried to build on the momentum of that moment and continued to have the better of possession, but beyond a fierce drive from substitute Leon Bailey which Emmanuel Agbadou did well to block, they could not craft a genuine opening.
With five minutes remaining Malen forced José Sá into a low save with another fierce effort from range, but it was again pulled back for offside. Wolves had held on, but after an interception from Toti Gomes the ball broke up field and the marauding Cunha did his thing.
