Wolves 1, Aston Villa 1: How Wolves really proved they were the Dingles
Oct 26 2009 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail
It’s one thing saying the honest striker shouldn’t have stayed on his feet, but the truth is his Ireland team-mate shouldn’t have stayed on the pitch because it was a clear penalty and a sending-off offence.
It was a good job from Villa’s point of view that Dunne did escape punishment because he and the rest of the claret-and-blue backline had to stand firm as Wolves also tried to steal their mantle as set-piece specialists.
Michael Kightly outshone Ashley Young in the battle of the wing wonders, with his deadball deliveries leading to James Milner hacking Doyle’s effort off the line and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake going close with an overhead kick and a weak header. However, despite Wolves’ first-half pressure, Villa keeper Brad Friedel only had one save to make, getting down to his near post to deny Dave Edwards seconds after the penalty shout.
Friedel’s opposite number Wayne Hennessey was similarly untroubled during Villa’s second-half improvement, although he did produce a stop to tip over Agbonlahor’s angled strike.
And, despite Wolves wanting to see the back of Dunne earlier on, Hennessey was glad to see the chunky centre-half’s backside get in the way of a goalbound shot from Villa team-mate Steve Sidwell.
Soon, however, the bottom fell out of the home side’s world when they fell behind to a goal from a player who has now scored in all six of Villa’s derbies under O’Neill.
Agbonlahor also made it half-a-dozen goals for the season so far with a clinical spin and shot six yards out to put the finishing touches to Villa’s best move of the match.
Young’s acrobatic kick on the left flank kept the ball in play and it was worked via Agbonlahor and Milner to Emile Heskey whose right-wing cross was tucked away by the Brummie goal-getter.
The 79th-minute strike made amends for Agbonlahor’s second-minute miss, which was more of a backpass than an effort on goal as he latched on to Friedel’s long punt upfield. But it was referee Peter Walton’s act of atonement that led to a fair scoreline four minutes later when he compensated for his previous penalty mistake by finally awarding Wolves a spot-kick.
Sidwell’s trip on Kightly was a cast-iron foul and Ebanks-Blake’s venomous shot into roof of Friedel’s net ensured the Dingles were the noisiest neighbours to disturb Villa in quite a while.
