For Aston Villa, this was a thoroughly satisfying conclusion to a challenging yet historic week. Villa mourned the loss of Gary Shaw, the youngest member of their 1982 European Cup-winning team, and made a flawless return to Europe’s premier club competition. Before kick-off, there was a rousing minute’s applause for Shaw, and by the end, a buoyant crowd celebrated a comeback victory. With 72 minutes on the clock, Wolves led Villa thanks to Matheus Cunha’s whipped strike after capitalizing on Diego Carlos’s sloppy pass, but they crumbled after Ollie Watkins equalized. Ezri Konsa scored what he presumably thought was the winning goal in the 88th minute, and then the in-form Jhon Durán—who had yet to start a game this season—helped himself to his fourth goal of the campaign from close range. For Wolves, a disheartening defeat was compounded by center-back Yerson Mosquera being carried off with 10 minutes of normal time remaining.
With about a minute of first-half stoppage time left, Emery had seen enough and marched down the touchline towards the tunnel with a face like thunder. Some supporters jeered when the referee, Tim Robinson, blew the whistle for half-time. Villa trailed to Cunha’s 25th-minute strike, and their lackluster performance deserved to have them further behind. Rayan Aït-Nouri had a volley deflected wide by Carlos, and Mario Lemina sent a header straight at Emiliano Martínez from a corner. Wolves were extremely disciplined, with striker Jørgen Strand Larsen usually one of 10 behind the ball as Villa probed. Watkins’s effort was blocked, and the ball was backheeled to Morgan Rogers, only for Wolves to swarm and clear.
A phase of play a couple of minutes before the interval was indicative of how things were slipping away from Villa. Cunha had a shot, Aït-Nouri was first to the rebound so had another go, and then André was first to collect possession on the edge of the box before twirling clear of Rogers. Villa were too lethargic for Emery’s liking. The manager attempted to quicken play on the touchline, and his frustrations got the better of him when he earned a booking for voicing his disapproval at Strand Larsen taking an age to depart the pitch when being replaced by Gonçalo Guedes. Strand Larsen was also guilty of delaying a first-half shot when through on goal.
Villa moved into familiar territory, with Emery calling Durán back from warming up approaching the hour. A couple of minutes later, he arrived on the pitch in place of Jacob Ramsey, and without touching the ball, his presence seemed to cause confusion. Another Villa substitute, Ross Barkley, saw a shot pinball in the box and divert wide. Durán headed over from a corner on 70 minutes and was involved in the buildup for Villa’s equalizer. Rogers seized on a loose ball about 20 yards from Sam Johnstone’s goal and shifted it to Watkins, who, with Craig Dawson for company, got a shot away and scored with only Villa’s second shot on target.
Watkins was in the mood now. Mosquera upended the striker just after halfway and then collided with Rogers, the former coming off far worse and requiring to be carried off on a stretcher. Villa went for the jugular, and when Youri Tielemans’s recycled corner dropped at the back post, Konsa beat Lemina to the punch to instinctively finish. Durán then got in on the act, converting Rogers’s low ball on the edge of the six-yard box. Wolves’ supporters headed for the exits.
