Matt Jarvis struck a first half winner as Wolves grabbed a vital victory to drag Aston Villa back into the relegation battle.
Jarvis hammered home a sweet volley just before the break to register Wolves’ first win over their near neighbours in 31 years and give their own hopes of survival a major boost.
Villa are now just one point ahead of the drop zone and left the pitch to a resounding chorus of jeers after a subdued display.
Nenad Milijas almost caught out Brad Friedel with a low near-post drive that the Villa goalkeeper did well to push aside before Ashley Young and Carlos Cuellar both blazed over for the hosts inside a frenetic opening 10 minutes.
With Christophe Berra’s 21st-minute header correctly ruled offside, Wolves soon saw another goal celebration aborted after Kevin Doyle stole in at the far post to acrobatically head home from the tightest of angles.
But for the second time in seven minutes, the assistant referee was right to rule that Adam Hammill’s high cross had briefly swung out of play en route to his team mate in the Villa box.
But the visitors did make one count eight minutes before the break as Jarvis hammered a first-time volley past a startled Friedel from the left side of the area following Berra’s crucial flick on from Jamie O’Hara’s deep cross.
Despite being industrious in attack, Villa were woefully off target throughout the 90 minutes and their frustration intensified when Richard Stearman’s 53rd-minute trip on Darren Bent yielded a free kick despite the foul actually being a yard inside the box.
With Wolves’ pursuit of a second goal restricted to occasional counter attacks, Milijas stung Friedel’s gloves from long range before a wall of claret and blue bodies blocked O’Hara’s mazy run in to the area.
And with precious few chances on offer, Villa’s hopes of salvaging a draw fell to Young whose neat turn and shot crashed against the underside of the crossbar before Wolves cleared their lines to claim only their second away win of the season.
Sun 20 March, 2011
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