Magnificent Martínez Sets up Villa 10-Men Smash and Grab at Wolves

Wolves 0 Aston Villa 1

Aston Villa had to be patient in the West Midland derby and rely on a solid performance by Emiliano Martínez, going down to 10-men and an unlikely match-winner to grab three points at Molineux. In what seemed a scrappy cat and mouse game to establish the counter, the dismissal of Douglas Luiz late on, ultimately led to a false sense of security for Wolves, as they searched for a winner. It left them stretched at the back, which Villa still looked to exploit despite their numeric disadvantage, with John McGinn taking advantage to win the injury-time penalty.

A card happy Mike Dean may have booked six Villa players and sent a player off from each team, but this wasn’t a particularly feisty game. A frustrating games at times, maybe, but not a particularly highly-charged affair.

El Ghazi Redemption

As the MOMS Villa player ratings showed, Emiliano Martínez was the man of the match with a string of smart saves, although the role of match winner went to Anwar El Ghazi, who’s ice cool penalty secured the three points. The Dutch winger has been the the butt of online abuse from some of the more fickle Villa fans over the past year, some of which even labelled him ‘El Garbage’. With the player’s efforts in getting the club promoted – that deserved at least some currency of respect – seemingly forgotten.

While El Ghazi has admittedly suffered from inconsistency, he still is capable at this level and can have an impact off the bench, as he proved against Wolves.

Newbie

Likewise the introduction of Jacob Ramsey was pleasing to see, as he made his first Premier League start. Selected for his energy and ability to play box-to-box, Villa will consider it a bonus they have a new legitimate squad option, considering their apparent lack of depth.

Overall, with Villa previously on a run of four losses in their last five games, the Wolves win brings relief. Form runs can now be flipped into positives too, with Villa winning four out of their five away games this season, a run that includes four clean sheets on their travels too.

Match Reaction

For a full post-match reaction from the My Old Man Said team, check out the latest podcast below, as we analyse the 1-0 win over Wolves, discussing everything from referee Mike Dean’s yellow fever to who’s Villa’s actual penalty taker?

UTV

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Credits:

David Michael – @oldmansaid 

Chris Budd – @BUDD_music

Phillip Shaw – @prsgame

My Old Man Said – https://myoldmansaid.com

Editor/Producer – David Michael

Music – Philip Marten

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