How these teams kept 11 men each on the pitch for so long is anyone’s guess after a match in which Wolves and Aston Villa spent more time battling each other than playing football.
When Wolves midfielder Mario Lemina finally received a red card in stoppage time for a second booking, it was incredible that he was the first and only player dismissed after what had happened before. In trying to let the match play out, referee Rob Jones lost his grip on the match early on and never regained it.
Craig Dawson and John McGinn treated the first half like an audition for WWE wrestling and Douglas Luiz somehow avoided punishment for a forearm smash on Hwang Hee Chan.
They were far from being the only culprits of an absurd first half. Was this really the best the 22 millionaires could do to entertain nearly 32,000 fans who had paid handsomely to watch them?
Luckily for those at Molineux, the second half was a bit more fun. Hwang put Wolves ahead shortly after receiving that blow to the face from Luiz only for Pau Torres – who had been at fault – to equalize with his first goal for Aston Villa shortly after. Pedro Neto could have won for Wolves while Jose Sa made fine saves from Matty Cash and Ollie Watkins, who headed against the post in the final act.
Pau Torres gave Aston Villa a point against Wolves with his first goal for Unai Emery’s side
Mario Lemina was sent off late for Wolves after picking up two yellow cards.
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Villa boss Unai Emery brought his main men back from a rotation for the midweek win over Zrinjski Mostar and they almost combined to give Villa an early lead.
Moussa Diaby crossed from the right and Torres, unmarked, should have done better than head from eight meters out.
Then Boubacar Kamara was booked for removing Matheus Cunha and Jose Sa made an important save to deny Matty Cash’s volley, after a fabulous Villa move involving Douglas Luiz and John McGinn. Moments later, McGinn was just off target from 35 yards out.
That was after 15 minutes – and for the rest of the first half the teams largely forgot about football and instead focused on winding up each other.
Each time, Craig Dawson and McGinn held grappling contests straight from a primary school playground. Both men were then booked – Dawson for fouling Ollie Watkins and McGinn for flattening Pedro Neto.
Referee Rob Jones struggled to maintain control in ill-tempered Midlands derby
The teasing continued. Wolves’ only good chance in the first half came when Rayan Ait-Nouri headed Hee Chan Hwang’s cross just wide. Ait-Nouri was soon on deck after being hit by Cash, although this challenge seemed at least accidental. Douglas Luiz made a ridiculous dive to try to cause trouble for Nelson Semedo, and with the first half almost over, Dawson and Mario Lemina rushed to block Douglas Luiz’s effort from inside the surface.
A few seconds after the restart, there was finally some quality. McGinn’s ball from the left was expertly volleyed towards goal by Watkins only for Sa to impressively go over the bar. However, it didn’t take long to return to normal service, as Hwang received a forearm to the face from Luiz that had to be patched up at length. Oddly, no foul was committed.
Hwang repaid Villa in the most efficient way. Neto had been quiet in the first half, but finding himself on the right, he got past Torres and when his cut-back deflected off Lucas Digne, Hwang was perfectly positioned to guide it home into the six-man box. meters.
Yet, in the blink of an eye, Torres redeemed himself by bringing Villa back to level terms. When Wolves failed to clear a Villa free-kick, Watkins brought the ball back into the danger area and Torres slipped behind Semedo to head beyond Sa. Wolves were only ahead only two minutes ago – and yet Emery still had a face like thunder in the dugout.
Hwang Hee Chan put Wolves ahead with his fifth goal of the season, heading in a cross from Pedro Neto.
Torres redeemed himself with a goal after being easily beaten by Neto in the build-up to Wolves’ opener.
Unai Emery was unimpressed as his side missed the chance to secure a fourth successive Premier League victory.
After another scuffle between Hwang and Luiz, the Wolves man hit the deck again after the Brazilian appeared to push him, but VAR John Brooks saw no reason to investigate further. Emery had been agitated all match and it was no surprise when he received a booking midway through the half.
Wolves could have gone ahead with a brilliant break which saw substitute Sasa Kalajdzic deliver a delicious ball to Neto, who skied it with his weaker right foot at the far post.
As 12 minutes of stoppage time was called, substitute Leon Bailey released Watkins, who appeared to be pushed by Matt Doherty as he shot. Again nothing was awarded, but referee Rob Jones eventually lost patience and gave Lemina a second yellow card for pushing back Nicolo Zaniolo.
Then ticked off by Luiz, another promising effort was blocked and from the corner substitute Zaniolo almost converted Bailey’s shot into the far corner. The visitors finished strongly and, following another neat move, Sa denied Ezri Konsa from 10 yards. But he couldn’t do anything because in the 14th minute of added time, Watkins headed Luiz’s cross against the base of the post and a few seconds later, Jones missed the clock.
Wolves 1-1 Aston Villa: Pau Torres scores his first goal for Unai Emery’s side to cancel out Hwang Hee-Chan’s opener – as Mario Lemina is shown a late red card for hosts in ill-tempered derby
