Aston Villa miss out on top four chance as Wolves cling on for draw
Aston Villa missed the chance to climb into the Premier League's top four after a 1-1 draw at Wolves.
Pau Torres' equaliser, just two minutes after Hwang-Hee Chan's opener, saw them come from behind at Molineux.
Mario Lemina was sent off in stoppage time for a second booking and Ollie Watkins hit the post with the final touch of the match.
Liverpool's 2-2 draw at Brighton opened the door for Villa to move into the Champions League spots but they never did enough for victory.
Wolves earned another solid point following last week's swashbuckling 2-1 win over Manchester City to continue their progress under Gary O'Neil.
The manager would have been encouraged by another gritty performance and with better finishing from Pedro Neto it would have been another victory.
It was Villa, though, who started the brighter as Torres miscued a header and Jose Sa turned Matty Cash's angled effort behind before John McGinn twice fired off target.
It preceded a good spell for Wolves, the hosts attempting to stamp their authority on the game without ever testing Emi Martinez.
Their final ball continued to elude them until Hwang crossed for Rayan Ait-Nouri to steer wide after 33 minutes.
Yet it was the hosts' one decent chance of the half and they needed Lemina to rush out and block Douglas Luiz's shot just before the break.
Villa's start to the season, which had lifted them to fifth, was their second best in the Premier League but there were signs of tiredness and the visitors' decision to resort to gamesmanship early belied the quality they have.
They emerged for the second half sharper, though, and Jose Sa turned over when Watkins directed McGinn's pass goalwards.
It was a brief spark from Villa but there was little surprise when Wolves
Read on irishexaminer.com
