Ruben Neves 'proud' of Wolves' dramatic fightback at Villa
Ruben Neves is bursting with pride after his last-minute free-kick inspired Wolves to a dramatic comeback victory against Villa.
The gamed looked dead and buried as it approached the 80th minute, with the hosts cruising at 2-0, but three goals in 15 minutes snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Neves’ deflected free-kick in the 95th minute proved decisive, prompting incredible celebrations between the fans and players.
“I’m so proud of the team, we worked so hard to come back in a game like this, playing away in a derby,” Neves said. “Everyone deserved it. We had chances to score, they had chances, it was a great game to watch for the fans. For us it was really important to give this win for the fans because we know what it means to them.”
Standing over that late free-kick, having not scored a long-range goal for around two years, Neves had to negotiate with his team-mates in order to take it.
The huge deflection off Matt Targett was crucial, but with John McGinn’s goal also deflecting off Neves, the midfielder felt the luck had evened out.
He added: “Podence was with the ball but I said to him ‘give me the ball and I’ll score’. He said, if you’ll score I’ll give you the ball.
“You don’t want to score like that, I was shooting to his side and when he moved it hit the defender. Their second goal was a deflection as well so they cannot talk about luck as they had it as well.
“The most important thing is a win and when you cannot play as you want – some games things aren’t coming – the team spirit comes and we showed our spirit, character and how we want to take things forward.”
The wild celebrations with the supporters, after each goal and at the final whistle, made for entertaining viewing and the midfielder insists those moments make it all worthwhile.
“It was amazing, to be honest,” Neves said. “It’s the best part of football when this happens, because we felt this game was so important for our fans. We were 2-0 down so we felt that we gave them this win and they deserve it because of their support.
“The season started really badly for us, with the results not with how we were playing, and the fans kept going and pushing us forward.
“They help us and this win is for them.
“We spoke before the game. It means a lot to them, a lot to us and a lot to Wolverhampton. It was a great win for us and them as well.”
