Wolves Fans' Verdict v Villa: Safety at last!

Clive Smith

40 points seemed a long way away at Christmas. From where we were then we have done well to reach that level with three games remaining. I confess I did not expect to get here. The home defeat to Leicester left me feeling relegation was unavoidable.

Apologies all round.

Like our last home game, against Palace, an early goal got the fans on side and eased the tension. A rare goal from a corner and an even rarer headed goal owed an assist to Dawson who’s tussle with the Villa defence provided a useful distraction.

For a while the game was very open which was probably not to our advantage. Villa looked confident in possession and were happy to play it at the back. Our press carried more of a threat than usual and that looked our most likely way of adding to our lead.

Wolves were happy to concede possession and gradually got more passive in their approach while diligently protecting Sa. He made one diving save and one routine one in the half.

The second half saw Wolves continue to manage the game effectively, working hard without the ball and only once, when Sa was stranded in no-mans land, and Mings missed the target, did our goal look in danger.

Far from a classic game and not too many outstanding performances. The sum of all the parts did the trick and got the points. If we could only bottle the effort and commitment of Neves and transfuse it into a few others....

Results on Monday should confirm the maths and then it will be mission accomplished for Lopetegui. Reasons to be cheerful.

John Lalley

It is indeed how you respond. With all manner of derision ringing in their ears after the seasick in Sussex fiasco, Wolves took absolution and redeemed themselves with a show of genuine character and admirable resilience.

Atonement at Villa’s expense was never going to be easy; they are a team transformed under new management and for much of this game, their distribution and ability to create space left us under an uneasy amount of strain. But exactly in the vein of the home wins over Chelsea, Brentford and Palace, Wolves proved capable of conceding much possession and absorbing sustained pressure without yielding.

Regardless of any hint of good fortune on the way, this is quite an achievement. The sheer physical output required to stonewall quality Premier opponents we should not underestimate.

Fans in their disappointment can rush to snap judgements in the aftermath of chaotic reverses such as we endured at Brighton. Accusations about players ‘not trying and not caring’ are bandied about without any proper reflection. Professional players simply do not take the field with any intention of quitting; it just doesn’t happen. Wolves copped a screeching at the Amex Stadium because they were irredeemably awful, not because they weren’t trying and the restorative nature of this victory speaks for itself.

Once again, this latest Molineux win was achieved through the total commitment of each individual in a Wolves’ shirt; nobody shirked, nobody hid and sure there were mistakes along the way, but nobody ducked their responsibilities.

It was hard-earned, nerves were shredded as in the previous three home wins but ultimately, it was thoroughly well-deserved. With stoppage-time all but expired, what a lovely extravagance it was to watch the inspirational Craig Dawson indulging himself in footwork of Messi-like affectation adjacent to the corner-flag near the Villa goal-line. Quite what ‘Dorse’ was thinking trespassing in such unfamiliar territory with seconds to go is a puzzle, but what is certain is that he and the rest of us knew as he happily whiled away the time that the game was won. Besides it was Coronation day and Dawson’s birthday as well, so why not be a touch impulsive?

And it was a lovely feeling; all match the level of support for the players was astronomical, Molineux at its best and gratefully acknowledged by both head coach and captain in post-match interviews. The statuary 40 points finally racked-up and for Lopetegui, the satisfaction of delivering on the task he was appointed to achieve. We’ve endured rather than enjoyed much of this season but the bottom-line has finally been crossed; the prospect of a dip into the EFL Championship was frankly, horrendous.

That nightmare finally assuaged, now is the time to formulate the direction we need to take for some definite measure of progress. There’s no euphoria; it’s been a disappointing season but mercifully for now, face has been saved.

The room for improvement is to say the least, substantial; much needs to change after our final three fixtures are completed. We would be kidding ourselves to believe otherwise.

Adam Virgo

A massive win, safety secured and we’ve potentially stopped Villa from getting European football. A very successful weekend to say the least.

We’ve become a really tough team to play against at home under Lopetegui and he’s done an incredible job since he’s come in considering everything.

Even when the performance aren’t great we’ve still been able to win games and keep clean sheets at home which is huge and we can only build from that into next season.

After Jose Sa’s horrific performance last week, he sure made up for it this game with some really big saves at crucial moments. Lemina was outstanding again and it looks like Neto is improving every game currently.

Great for Toti to score his first Premier League goal too, a fantastic header and it’s about time we scored directly from a corner. Neves’ delivery was much better than anything else we’ve had this season from set pieces so hopefully that continues.

Even though we’re safe, I hope the players don’t start putting in away performances like we saw at Brighton. I’m not expecting us to do much against United or Arsenal away but it would be nice to at least give it a go and see what happens.

Rob Cartwright

Neves promised a bounce back after the Brighton shocker and he delivered. He was superb and none of the team let us down, in what turned out to be a high energy local derby with plenty of goal mouth action.

Villa started the better, determined to get us under pressure. The first goal would be key. Wolves were well organised, as ever, making it very difficult for them to break through. I still can’t explain that Brighton result!

You could see Emery had briefed his team well.

- importance of first goal, at Molineux,

- attack down Wolves right side,

- stop Dawson at corners.

They were so focused on Dawson at our first corner, they left Toti with a fairly comfortable header to score, inside 10 minutes. I love a goal bouncing down from the bar, as long as it goes over the line! If he hadn’t scored I think VAR would have awarded a penalty as McGinn wrestled Dawson to the ground.

Wolves were now on top and Villa looked rattled.

Villa attacked our right side and Semedo had a tough afternoon. He stood up to it well, but a number of crosses went in for Watkins. Sa justified keeping his place with safe hands. He made an excellent save from Buendia.

Villa had more possession but struggled to break through, often going backwards to start again. Their best chance fell to Watkins who headed straight to Sa from a good position.

Wolves kept the pressure on too. Costa was excellent running the Villa back line ragged. Cunha was good in support too. They make a good partnership and Cunha could have scored when played in by Costa. Neto was very quiet in first half but came much more into the game during the second half.

This tempo continued in the second half. Wolves had something to protect with Villa struggling to break us down and real goal chances scarce. Referee Attwell did his utmost to spoil the game. Both teams will be unhappy as he seemed to give everything to Villa in the first half and then favoured Wolves in the second with many strange decisions and needless free kicks awarded. Lemina was excellent in breaking up Villa attacks before there was any danger.

Mings should have scored, but other than that I don’t recall a clear opportunity in the second half.

Lopetegui chose not to change things early, so was clearly happy with the players.

Hwang came on for Cunha in an attacking move after 68 minutes, but other changes were with five minutes to go to close game down. They did this well.

My man of the match was Neves. A true Captains performance from him with Lemina a close second; just like the Palace victory.

Overall a great result in a game that could easily have gone either way. Very happy with another clean sheet at Molineux. It is this form that has broken the “bottom at Christmas” norm this season.

Can only think where we might have been if Lopetegui had been here for the full season.