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WOLVES MAINTAIN EUROPA CHARGE WITH NARROW PREMIER LEAGUE WIN OVER ASTON VILLA

Wolves maintained their European charge after a deserved Premier League derby win over Aston Villa.

Jonny’s rocket and Ashley Young’s own goal earned the hosts a 2-1 win at Molinuex.

Ollie Watkins pulled a goal back with a late penalty but Wolves held their nerve to keep the pressure on in the race for Europe.

Villa have now taken just four points from 39 against teams above them in the top flight this season, underlining both their consistency issues and fallibility against the sides they wish to emulate.

They suffered again to slip 13 points behind their rivals, who move above West Ham into seventh to sit just two points adrift of the top five.

Without the banned Raul Jimenez and injured Ruben Neves there was a sense Wolves were underdogs but they tore into Villa to take a seventh-minute lead.

John McGinn slipped to allow Joao Moutinho to motor forward and then Ezri Konsa stumbled trying to cut out his pass to Daniel Podence.

It allowed the forward into the area and his shot was blocked by the covering McGinn. Lucas Digne then threw himself in front of Fabio Silva’s follow-up – only for the ball to fall to Jonny, who rifled into the top corner from 12 yards.

Wolves were dominant and Silva wasted a fine chance to double their lead when he shot too close to Emi Martinez after beating Tyrone Mings.

Villa then lost Digne – only just back after a hamstring issue – as their problems continued and Young replaced him.

Yet Wolves allowed Villa to sneak back into the game having lost their early ferocity and the hosts began to see more of the ball.

Leon Bailey forced a fine fingertip save from Jose Sa with a 25-yard effort but Villa were unable to make meaningful inroads into a home defence which stood firm.

It was a crucial spell as, nine minutes before the break, the hosts grabbed a second in another moment Villa will be desperate to forget.

Again they were too open, Marcal was left with too much space on the left and his cross was headed into his own net by Young.

It was another calamitous moment for Villa – who blew a 2-0 lead and conceded three goals in the final 10 minutes against Wolves in October to lose 3-2.

Leander Dendoncker then should have settled the game in first-half injury time rather than slashing the ball wide after a quick break from Francisco Trincao.

It almost came back to haunt the midfielder 11 minutes after the break when Watkins missed a glorious chance to pull a goal back.

Young’s throughball caught Wolves napping and with Sa backpeddling, Watkins ran through only to curl his effort wide.

Villa at least showed more bite but Hwang Hee-chan nearly added a third for Wolves when he dragged wide with 19 minutes left.

Philippe Coutinho, who failed to exert any influence on the game, forced Sa into a smart stop soon after and Silva then saw Martinez turn his drive over before Villa grabbed a lifeline with four minutes left.

Watkins and Sa collided, with referee Darren England controversially giving a penalty, and the England forward fired in off the post.

There was still time for Sa to turn Matty Cash’s volley wide in injury time but Villa could not complete an unlikely comeback.

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EVERTON LOSE AGAIN AS CONOR COADY HEADS WINNER FOR WOLVES

Boyhood Liverpool fan Conor Coady headed a second-half winner for Wolves at Goodison Park to push 10-man Everton closer to their first relegation in 71 years.

The England international expertly glanced home Ruben Neves’ cross early in the second half and Jonjoe Kenny’s dismissal following two yellow cards in the space of three minutes saw the visitors coast to a 1-0 victory to move up to seventh in the Premier League table.

Wolves’ captain has now scored more league goals this season (three) than he had in his previous six combined.

Everton, by contrast, have not scored in their last three league games and that, coupled with Watford’s win at Southampton, leaves them outside the bottom three on goal difference alone.

Frank Lampard’s side do have three matches in hand on most of their rivals but a run of just nine points from the last 60 available and only two league wins since September has left a squad drained of confidence in danger of dropping out of the top flight for only the third time in their history and first since 1951.

Lampard had dropped defender Michael Keane and midfielder Allan after Monday’s humiliating 5-0 defeat at Tottenham but striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s illness was an absence he really could not afford.

It resulted in another change of system but Everton, with defender Ben Godfrey making his first appearance since a hamstring injury in Lampard’s debut game in early February, struggled with their new 5-2-2-1 formation.

Only Anthony Gordon, dropping into the pockets between Wolves’ defence and midfield seemed to thrive and was the hosts’ best – and probably only – real attacking threat in the first half.

Richarlison had an early shot saved by Jose Sa from Vitalii Mykoleno’s ball over the top, with the Wolves goalkeeper also blocking Demarai Gray’s close-range effort after Gordon had released Seamus Coleman down the right.

Gordon also whipped in a cross which Richarlison could not reach before Sa but the visitors, who were content to play a waiting game after back-to-back away defeats, were barely troubled.

In keeping a first-half clean sheet Wolves, who lost Hwang Hee-Chan to a dead leg after only 16 minutes, equalled Arsenal’s 1999 record of 14 Premier League away games without conceding before the interval.

That they had only one shot on target will have been of little concern, especially with the way they restarted.

A free-kick was half-cleared to Neves, who skipped past a couple of tackles to swing over a brilliant cross for Coady to glance inside the far post.

Raul Jimenez flicked a snap-shot wide and Daniel Podence, who came on for Hwang, also narrowly missed the target after a driving run as the Toffees struggled to even get a touch on the ball.

Dele Alli was brought on as the home team switched to 4-2-3-1 and, although another body in midfield helped slow the Wolves tide, it had little effect from an attacking point of view.

Even when Richarlison did break clear, to be denied by Sa diving at his feet, it was all in vain as the offside flag went up.

The Brazil international was closer with his next effort – although that was still into the side-netting – and things got a whole lot worse when Kenny was sent off after another caution for a foul on Jimenez.

Lampard had been relying on the Goodison effect to provide his side with the boost they needed for their survival bid but the atmosphere turned increasingly toxic and there were hundreds of empty seats before the final whistle.

It means Thursday’s visit of Newcastle, ahead of an April which includes matches against top-six sides Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and West Ham, is now a match they have to win at all costs.

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WATFORD WOE WORSENS AS WOLVES CRUISE TO IMPRESSIVE VICTORY AT MOLINEUX

Watford’s dwindling Premier League survival hopes suffered another blow as a dreadful opening 21 minutes saw them beaten comfortably at Wolves.

A 4-0 defeat at Molineux leaves Watford with just one win from their last 16 Premier League outings, with Roy Hodgson’s side three points from safety with 10 games remaining.

Everton in 17th have a superior goal difference and three games in hand as an early strike from Raul Jimenez, a Cucho Hernandez own goal and a Daniel Podence effort saw Wolves coasting with less than a quarter of the game gone – and a fine Ruben Neves chip rounded off a commanding display late on.

Three defeats on the bounce for the home side never looked like becoming four as they maintain hopes of securing European qualification at the end of the season.

Hodgson doffed his cap to the trio of strikes scored by Arsenal to down Watford on Sunday – but here he was left shaking his head in disbelief.

While their fate looks all but sealed, a trip to Molineux actually offered the Hornets a chance to drag themselves back into the fight, having taken 12 points on their travels this term compared to a measly seven at home.

Wolves, too, have struggled in front of their own fans, scoring just 10 goals in their 13 home league games until Watford rolled into town.

Jimenez was given all the time he needed to control a pass from strike partner Hwang Hee-chan and convert from just six yards out to open the scoring with 13 minutes on the clock.

Eight minutes later and the game was well beyond Watford, Hernandez tamely diverting a Rayan Ait-Nouri cross into his own goal before goalkeeper Ben Foster fluffed his lines from a clearance and presented the ball to Podence, who made no mistake from 25 yards.

Hodgson reacted by replacing Kiko Femenia with Christian Kabasele and it stemmed the tide from the hosts as Joshua King passed up a decent opportunity to give Watford a glimmer of hope.

Foster, with the full force of the Wolves fans in the South Bank now on his back, once again found Podence with an errant clearance but this time the forward could not lift a shot back over the goalkeeper from 40 yards out.

Almost all of the chances were coming the way of the home side as substitutes Pedro Neto and Fabio Silva came close to extending the lead.

Wolves would strike again in the closing stages, Neves deftly controlling the ball on the edge of the box before lofting an inch-perfect finish over Foster.

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WOL 2-1 LEI: PODENCE WINNER BOOSTS WOLVES EUROPEAN PUSH

Daniel Podence scored his first Premier League goal of the season as Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Leicester City 2-1 at home to boost their hopes of European qualification.

Wolves went ahead on nine minutes when Raul Jimenez set up Ruben Neves and the Portuguese’s strike from outside the penalty area flew past Kasper Schmeichel.

The Foxes were back on level terms four minutes before the break. Youri Tielemans’ sublime threaded pass found Marc Albrighton and his low cross was steered in by Ademola Lookman.

Wolves regained the lead on 66 minutes, moments after Tielemans had fired narrowly over for Leicester. Leander Dendoncker teed up Podence to drill in a low strike from outside the box after a swift counter-attack.

James Maddison was close to equalising with six minutes left and Jose Sa saved well from Tielemans in stoppage time.

Back-to-back wins leave Wolves seventh, two below fifth-placed West Ham United and six adrift of Manchester United, in fourth, with matches in hand on both.

Leicester are 11th on 27 points.

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JOAO MOUTINHO’S LATE STRIKE EARNS WOLVES DESERVED WIN AT MANCHESTER UNITED

Joao Moutinho fired Wolves to a first win at Old Trafford since 1980 as Ralf Rangnick’s unbeaten start to life as Manchester United’s interim manager came to an end.

The Red Devils finished 2021 with a much-needed home win against Burnley, but the new year got off to a terrible start as their sloppy, disjointed display was punished by Bruno Lage’s impressive visitors.

Wolves had not played for 15 days due to coronavirus-related postponements, but they showed few signs of rust at Old Trafford, where Mourinho struck late on to secure a deserved 1-0 win.

Wanderers had failed to win in their last 10 league games at United and it looked like that run might continue after they failed to score in a one-sided first half in which they managed an eye-watering 15 shots.

Phil Jones, making his first appearance in 708 days, was one of the few to impress for United, who belatedly showed flickers of life after Rangnick’s decision to take off lively attacker Mason Greenwood was booed.

Replacement Bruno Fernandes struck the bar and then sent over a free-kick that Cristiano Ronaldo directed home from an offside position.

But Romain Saiss also hit the woodwork from a free-kick and Wolves found a way through in the 82nd minute, when Moutinho controlled a clearance and hit a low drive past David De Gea to send the travelling hordes into raptures.

There was a similarly impressive roar at the final whistle after goalkeeper Jose Sa superbly saved Fernandes stoppage-time free-kick to seal victory.

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CHELSEA LOSE GROUND WITH WOLVES DRAW

Chelsea lost ground on leaders Manchester City following a goalless draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.

Wolves were on top in the first half but could not find a breakthrough goal.

Daniel Podence tapped in at the far post on 16 minutes but the goal was ruled out as Raul Jimenez was offside. Edouard Mendy then saved Leander Dendoncker’s close-range header before half-time.

Chelsea controlled possession for most of the second half but were left frustrated by the hosts.

Mason Mount was unable to stretch his scoring run to five matches as his shot from distance was blocked.

Jose Sa produced a big save to deny Christian Pulisic late on, getting a strong hand to thwart the American.

Consecutive draws mean Chelsea stay in third but they are now six points behind Man City. Wolves stay eighth with 25 points, three behind West Ham United in fifth.

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BURNLEY IMPRESSIVE WITH DRAW AT WOLVES

Burnley maintained their impressive record against Wolves with a 0-0 draw that made it six unbeaten versus the West Midlands side for Sean Dyche.

It was the first time that Dyche’s side had played since their thrilling 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace last month after Storm Arwen postponed the Clarets’ clash with Tottenham last Sunday.

Although a point will not please Dyche too much, his side are proving tough to beat as they have only lost one from their last eight Premier League games.

Only the top three teams in the league had conceded fewer than Wolves coming into their fixture with Burnley and that continued as they kept their third clean sheet in a row.

But Bruno Lage’s men need to direct their training efforts to the other end of the pitch as their goal drought continued. Wolves have managed just one goal in their last four games.

The most danger Wolves caused Burnley came on the half-hour mark as Adama Traore led a counter-attack with his renowned pace.

Raul Jimenez joined him and created a two-on-one situation where the two Wolves forwards were running at Charlie Taylor. Taylor forced Traore wide and the Spanish forward struck from distance which rocketed off the bar and Nathan Collins cleared.

It was the type of match that Wolves could have benefitted from Ruben Neves’ creativity, but he served his one-match ban.

Traore again had an opportunity to put his side ahead. This time in the early stages of the second half. Rayan Ait-Nouri’s low cross was blocked and deflected into the path of Traore who slipped as he was about to shoot from inside the 18-yard box.

Traore used his lightning pace again with a direct run past four Burnley men. His deep cross was a stretch for Jimenez and Nick Pope collected with ease.

That did spark Lage to gee up the Molineux crowd and Hwang Hee-chan nearly rewarded them for their support but his low-driven shot was deflected wide.

Burnley’s first attempt at target was Dwight McNeil’s guided effort which forced Jose Sa to turn around the post and out for a corner.

Jay Rodriguez audaciously attempted to chip Sa from outside the box in injury time but it was well over the bar.

Dyche’s side remain in the bottom three but do have a game in hand, whereas Wolves missed an opportunity to go fifth.

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NORWICH, WOLVES PLAY OUT GOALLESS DRAW

Wolves were able to hold off a late Norwich challenge to secure a point in a goalless draw at Carrow Road.

Dean Smith’s tenure got off to a winning start with a 2-1 home victory against Southampton last weekend and it was followed up by a significant point against a top-half Wolves team.

The visitors went into the game having won five of their previous seven matches but struggled to find their rhythm.

Norwich had just one victory to their name when Smith replaced Daniel Farke just eight days after his own dismissal at Aston Villa and the Canaries have four points from his first two games as they pulled level on points with 18th-placed Burnley – although they have played a game more.

The Canaries looked to get on the front foot, with both Teemu Pukki and Josh Sargent firing early chances over the crossbar.

Wolves striker Raul Jimenez had an early chance to score his fourth goal since returning to action following a career-threatening skull fracture, but the ball from Rayan Ait-Nouri was just too far ahead of him and goalkeeper Tim Krul was able to gather.

Just before half-time, Krul had to come off his line to prevent the ball from reaching Jimenez. It was then cleared straight to Joao Moutinho who hit a low drive but Krul was able to get up quickly and save with his feet to keep the score level.

Less than two minutes later, Wolves keeper Jose Sa was called into action to deny Max Aarons who played a one-two with Lukas Rupp before taking a shot.

The best chance of the match fell to Pukki after the break. He found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper after being picked out by Rupp, but his shot was straight at Sa.

Rupp had a chance with 10 minutes remaining when he managed to get a foot to a cutback from Milot Rashica, who had made a clever run down the left, but his effort lacked power and the Wolves keeper was able to make the save.

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FORMER WOLVES AND ENGLAND MIDFIELDER RON FLOWERS DIES AT 87

Former Wolves midfielder Ron Flowers, a member of England’s 1966 World Cup squad, has died at the age of 87.

Flowers played for the Black Country club between 1952 and 1967 and helped them to three First Division titles and the FA Cup in 1960.

A statement on the club’s official Twitter feed read: “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of club legend and vice president Ron Flowers MBE at the age of 87.

“A giant on the pitch and a gentleman off it. There will be many people remembering Ron today and all of our thoughts are with those who knew and loved him.”

Flowers played 515 times for Wolves, placing him fifth on their all-time appearances list.

He joined from Wath Wanderers, a Wolves nursery club, and established himself as a key creative player in the side managed by Stan Cullis.

He played 49 times for England and featured in 40 consecutive international matches between November 1958 and April 1963, which included the 1962 World Cup in Chile.

He did not feature as Sir Alf Ramsey’s men became world champions on home soil in 1966, but received a World Cup winner’s medal at Downing Street in 2009 after only those on the field at the final whistle initially got one.

He left Wolves the year after to join Northampton, where he served as player-manager, followed by spells at Telford and Wellington Town.

Flowers was awarded an MBE in the 2021 New Year Honours List.

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RAUL JIMENEZ SCORES HIS FIRST HOME GOAL FOR OVER A YEAR AS WOLVES BEAT EVERTON

Raul Jimenez bagged his first Molineux goal for over a year to inspire Wolves to a narrow 2-1 win over Everton.

The forward, fit again after recovering from a life-threatening fractured skull 12 months ago, scored at home for the first time since October 2020.

It was also his 50th goal for Wolves – and second of the season – as the Mexico international proved beyond doubt he has lost nothing following the horror injury.

Max Kilman’s first goal for the hosts set them on their way and they now sit seventh in the Premier League.

They lost four of their first five under Bruno Lage but are now unbeaten in five games, winning four, to join the clutch of clubs around the European spots.

Wolves moved above Everton, despite Alex Iwobi’s second-half goal threatening a comeback following the Toffees’ aimless first half, and Rafa Benitez’s side have lost their last three.

Ruben Neves set the tone early when his sharp volley tested Jordan Pickford, with Mason Holgate hacking away Conor Coady’s attempted follow up.

In front of watching England boss Gareth Southgate, Pickford was in action again soon after when he turned Francisco Trincao’s fine 25-yard effort over.

Yet even Pickford needed bailing out by VAR when Hwang Hee-chan broke through after 18 minutes as Everton struggled to contain the bright and efficient hosts.

Jimenez’s fine run ended with him slipping in Hwang, who squeezed the ball into the corner from six yards, but Wolves’ celebrations were cut short with the striker fractionally offside.

Everton were clearly smarting from last week’s 5-2 humbling at home to Watford and appeared to have picked up where they left off during the chaotic late defeat.

Then, the Toffees conceded four in the final 12 minutes and they imploded again by conceding two in four minutes thanks to calamitous defending.

After 28 minutes Jimenez won a corner for Rayan Ait-Nouri to sling in and Kilman beat Michael Keane, Andros Townsend and Ben Godfrey to head past Pickford.

It was the defender’s first goal for Wolves, with his only other career strike coming for Maidenhead against Dover three years ago.

Then Jimenez got the goal he had waited over a year for when Godfrey gift-wrapped it for him.

The defender’s woeful back pass lacked any weight to reach Pickford and Jimenez caught Holgate on his heels to race through and dink the ball over the exposed goalkeeper.

Despite Wolves’ dominance Demarai Gray and Holgate missed fine chances at the end of the half and Fabian Delph replaced Jean-Philippe Gbamin – who made just his second league start for Everton since joining in 2019 – at the break.

Anything above the lacklustre first half would have been an improvement and the Toffees showed glimpses of a fightback, Kilman blocking a Gray drive, before Jose Sa escaped embarrassment 10 minutes after the break.

The goalkeeper’s clearance was charged down by Richarlison but he recovered in time to deny the striker.

The much-improved visitors then survived when Jimenez’s header hit a post before Iwobi struck to test Wolves’ nerves with 24 minutes left.

Godfrey’s speculative drive from distance was blocked by Coady but it fell straight to the previously anonymous Iwobi to finish under Sa.

Wolves regrouped and Trincao poked wide while referee Martin Atkinson changed his mind after initially awarding a penalty for Holgate’s foul on Trincao, only to give a free-kick outside the box.

Sa then clinched Wolves’ win with a stunning one-handed save to turn away Anthony Gordon’s header with four minutes left.