Carabao Cup: Aston Villa 2 Wolves 1 – Report and pictures
Ahmed Elmohamady got the winner as a youthful Wolves were beaten 2-1 at Villa in the last 16 of the Carabao Cup.
Nuno Espirito Santo gave the kids a go and they put in a decent account of themselves, but Dean Smith's side deservedly advanced to the quarter-finals.
Anwar El Ghazi opened the scoring in the first half for the hosts, and they regained the advantage through Elmohamady almost immediately after Patrick Cutrone levelled the scores.
Cutrone then missed a gilt-edged chance to equalise again as Villa got one over their local rivals.
Analysis
This was literally a case of men against boys, although the older heads did not exactly cruise through.
Villa dominated proceedings in the first half, with El Ghazi finding the net, but got too comfortable as Wolves levelled on the counter-attack through Cutrone.
Naivety on Wolves' part then saw the hosts go back in front pretty much straight away, through Elmohamady, before a slightly nervy finish for Smith's men.
This was not a classic, and for those of a gold and black persuasion, the first half was no fun to watch.
However, the youngsters gave Villa a brief scare after the break and were clapped off by the faithful who had made the short trip to Villa Park.
For Villa, it was not the most convincing of displays – but, ultimately, they are though and one step closer to a bit of silverware.
Match report
Both sides were much-changed, but it was the youthfulness of Wolves' which particularly caught the eye.
Sixteen-year-old Chem Campbell was on the right of the front three, Dion Sanderson at right-wing-back and Taylor Perry in midfield – all three making their first senior starts.
The bench named by Nuno, meanwhile, apart from goalkeeper Rui Patricio, was made up of under-23s players with only four first-team appearances between them.
Conversely, Villa's bench, which included James Chester following a long-term injury, had a total of 315 domestic claret and blue games.
The hosts had the lion's share of possession early on amid back-and-forth chants from the stands.
Wolves were struggling to get out of their own half but, in fairness, dealing with what Villa were throwing at them in the opening exchanges.
Mahmoud Trezeguet escaped the attention of Jesus Vallejo to get a shot off in the box. Maximilian Kilman, though, raced across to make a fine block for the visitors.
A free-kick from Conor Hourihane and a long-range attempt from Douglas Luiz were then similarly intercepted.
But Villa were not to be deterred and broke the deadlock before the half-hour mark.
A deft reverse pass from Henri Lansbury found El Ghazi, whose low strike went in via a disappointed John Ruddy.
The experienced Wolves man got a hand to it, but not enough as the ball ended up trickling over the line.
And the rest of the first period saw the same story continue, with Villa having the vast majority of the ball.
On a rare foray forward, Nuno's charges managed to win a free-kick in a promising position. However, Pedro Neto ballooned it high into the Holte End.
Neither team made a change for the beginning of the second half, but Smith was forced into a switch shortly after the restart. Keinan Davis pulled up and limped off, and Jonathan Kodjia took his place.
Villa were comfortable. Luiz got too lackadaisical, though, and was punished as Wolves grabbed a surprising leveller.
Kingswinford-born Perry caught the Brazilian napping and dispossessed him with a perfectly-timed sliding tackle.
From there, he cut inside from the left flank and struck the ball towards goal, with poacher Cutrone getting a toe on it to take it past Jed Steer. The gold and black faithful in the North Stand went crazy.
But their joy only lasted two minutes as Villa regained the lead. Lansbury was the provider once again, with his low-free kick being turned home by Elmohamady at the near post – poking under the legs of Ruddy.
You sensed that marked the door of opportunity being slammed shut on Wolves. But that was not the case.
Cutrone went clean through on goal and looked to slot the ball past Steer for a second equaliser. The Villa shot-stopper closed down the angle, though, and was able to make the save. Cutrone was left with his head in his hands.
Then came the Wolves substitutions – Benny Ashley-Seal, Terry Taylor and Flavio Cristovao all introduced in quick succession.
Just prior to being taken off for Cristovao, Neto burst into the area and went down looking for a penalty. Referee Lee Mason was not at all interested.
John McGinn entered the fray for Villa towards the end – for Lansbury, seconds after he put a close-range header wide – and swiftly picked up the night's first booking for a rash challenge on Perry.
Wolves' young guns kept fighting right until the final whistle, but it is Villa who are in the quarter-finals. They are due to find out their opponents in Thursday morning's draw.
Key moments
28: GOAL! Ruddy gets a hand to the ball but cannot stop El Ghazi's strike rolling over the line.
54: GOAL! Cutrone diverts Perry's strike past Steer to level the scores.
57: GOAL! Elmohamady pounces at the near post and pokes Lansbury's set-piece through Ruddy's legs.
59: CHANCE! Cutrone goes through one-one-one with Steer, but the keeper wins the battle.
Teams
Villa (4-3-3): Steer; Elmohamady, Konsa, Hause, Taylor; Luiz, Hourihane, Lansbury (McGinn, 81); El Ghazi, Davis (Kodjia, 49), Trezeguet
Subs not used: Nyland (gk), Guilbert, Chester, Nakamba, Wesley
Goals: El Ghazi (28), Elmohamady (57)
Wolves (3-4-3): Ruddy; Vallejo, Bennett (c), Kilman; Sanderson, Jordao (Taylor, 71), Perry, Vinagre; Campbell (Ashley-Seal, 68), Cutrone, Neto (Cristovao, 77)
Subs not used: Patricio (gk), Richards, Buur, Samuels
Goal: Cutrone (55)
Attendance: 34,962
Referee: Lee Mason (Portsmouth)
