In a game that didn’t really get going for Villa until the start of the second half, it was perhaps no surprise that the game ended a draw. For the majority of the first half, the Villa fans were silent, with singing only really breaking out in patches, and after the start to the second half.
The first half started slowly, almost in contradiction to what one would expect for a local derby, with a fairly pedestrian game where Villa has a fair amount of possession but failed to do much with it.
A lack of clear chances added to an increasing frustration in the Villa team who played as if they were the away team. In fact, the first incident of note was not a shot or save, but the injury of Chris Herd as he smacked his head against the post whilst attacking a cross.
Herd was under a lot of pressure from Matt Jarvis, who was supported well by Wolves left-back Stephen Ward. Ward was the first to cultivate a chance for the visitors with a deep cross for Stephen Hunt on 20 minutes. Hunt’s downward headed was turned wide, albeit awkwardly, by Given.
Villa seemed to respond to the pressure and, four minutes later, nearly took the lead. Gabby Agbonlahor used his pace to get past Richard Stearman on the left, before cutting the ball back for Emile Heskey, only for Heskey to fire wide.
Petrov managed to take advantage of a lapse of concentration by Christophe Berra, getting in behind the Wolves defence, but his pass to Heskey was intercepted.
Villa kicked off the second half almost looking like a different team. Suffice to say that whatever Alex McLeish’s team talk was, it appeared to have done the trick. Dunne saw a header blocked by Kevin Doyle, and Herd was came close after meeting a cross from Gabby, only for the ball to be tipped over the bar by Hennessey.
The change in tactics forced Wolves to lose their shape, almost letting in Charles N’Zogbia who collected a short corner from Petrov before dragging his effort wide on 70 minutes.
Due to the attacking nature of Villa, Wolves made a change by dropping both of his wingers Hunt and Jarvis, and replacing them with George Elokobi and Kevin Foley, and the change did have some effect. It was clear at this point that Wolves were happy to leave with a point rather than risk a Villa strike.
However, Hennessey was still called into action nine minutes from time, diving for Agbonlahor’s shot, which was provided via a Bent cross.
Bent then managed to get on the end of a deep cross to the back post, when substitute Barry Bannan provided the ball, but after Bent leapt above Elokobi, directing his header back across goal, the striker saw the ball bounce on top of the net.
Wolves gave Villa a shaky final minutes with Bent heading clear from a corner, not long before the end of the match.
One thing I was disappointed by was the attendance. Sure we can have some argue that they are unhappy with McLeish, but success has to start somewhere, and not via finger pointing of who is to blame.
If we are to have a bright future, we have to get together as a group – fans, players, and manager, and make sure we make Villa park a loud, intimidating fortress, rather than the subdued ground that I saw this afternoon.
The Author
