Aston Villa player ratings as Boubacar Kamara scorcher secures Premier League win against Wolves
Another one!
Nine minutes of stoppage time might have seemed a little steep if you watched this match and you’d be right.
Aston Villa faced little pressure after taking the lead against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Villa Park, either before or during those nine minutes, but laboured to a 1-0 victory in a pretty poor game.
Villa should have played the last 12 minutes against ten men when Jhon Arias jumped in two-footed on Boubacar Kamara but referee Chris Kavanagh, whose management of Wolves throughout the game created the environment for that lunge, opted not to send him off.
Here are the ratings:
Emiliano Martínez - 9
Made a very good save to keep out Wolves’ first shot on target on the stroke of half time and, from the subsequent corner, performed a near-miracle to keep it 0-0. Made another save from an offside situation ten minutes into the second half. There was time for one more solid save in stoppage time to cap an excellent clean sheet.
Matty Cash - 5
Produced Villa’s first shot on target and did well to get the ball out of his feet to force a straightforward stop from Sam Johnstone. Made a big mistake early in the second half that led to problems.
Ezri Konsa - 7
Calm and assured with and without the ball. Read the game well on the cover at the back on a handful of occasions.
Pau Torres - 7
Made an important block in front of the Villa goal in the tenth minute and read the play well to get there and repeated the trick early in the second half. Looked to get the ball in to the feet of Donyell Malen with players backing up the striker. Able to pick out Lucas Digne on the left to advance the play.
Lucas Digne - 5
Set piece delivery caused issues for Wolves from the start. Up against a lightning winger and it showed for Wolves’ disallowed goal at 0-0.
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Youri Tielemans - 7
A decent all-round midfield performance. Tried his luck from 30 yards to draw a save inside the first 20 minutes and again before half time. Pass selection and execution usually excellent; absolutely vital to keeping the ball moving. Substituted with quarter of an hour to go.
Boubacar Kamara - 7
Showed his class in possession in the middle of the park and helped Villa keep the ball. Quick feet but one or two risky decisions that didn’t pay off. Put Villa ahead with an incredible left-footed strike into the top corner from outside the box. Substituted late.
John McGinn - 7
Useful work in recovering the ball and winning a string of free kicks in the early minutes. Wonderful lung-busting run from the edge of his own penalty area to win a corner with 18 minutes to go.
Emi Buendía - 5
Linked play nicely with his back to goal but misplaced his first opportunity to send Cash through in the channel in the first half. Substituted early in the second half after his poorest contribution for some time.
Morgan Rogers - 7
Looked at the top of his game right from kick-off and Wolves couldn’t deal with him at all when Villa got him on the ball. Curled in a cracking cross with the last touch of the first half but there were no takers.
Donyell Malen - 6
Selected up front ahead of Ollie Watkins and positive from the off but Villa were unable to get him involved in the first half. Played with Watkins for half of the second half and they showed some flashes of linking well. Substituted with quarter of an hour remaining.
Substitutes
Ollie Watkins (for Buendía, 54) - Came up with a few nice touches to add some hold-up play to Villa’s game. 6
Ross Barkley (for Tielemans, 75) - Came on fit. Went off injured. N/A
Amadou Onana (for Malen, 75) - Came on late and got himself in the mix. 6
Jadon Sancho (for Bogarde, 88) - Late substitute. N/A
Lamare Bogarde (for Kamara, 88) - Late substitute. N/A