Aston Villa striker John Carew continued his recent flow of
goals with another two to rob Wolves of a shock away win, but a 2-2 draw
was still a disappointment for the home side.
Although Villa dominated for long spells, Wolves boosted their survival
hopes with another vital point off their Midlands rivals.
For a time it appeared that Wolves were heading for victory when they
battled back after Carew had given Villa an early lead.
Jody Craddock equalised and then James Milner put through his own net to
lift Wolves and rise their hopes of achieving successive away wins for
the first time ever in the Premier League.
Carew then popped up for his vital 83rd minute equaliser for his 13th
goal of the season.
With the spoils shared for the second time this season in the 100th
clash between these two Midlands rivals it means that Wolves are still
seeking their first win in 16 games against Villa.
As predicted by Villa manager, Martin O'Neill, nothing can be taken for
granted and yet again his side dropped vital points to a bottom half
side.
Villa missed the absent Gabby Agbonlahor although their strikeforce of
Emile Heskey and Carew posed some early problems to give an indication
of the task facing relegation battlers Wolves.
Carew was the first to threaten with an angled cross shot which went
across the face of Wolves goal. Fortunately for Wolves Stephen Warnock
was too late arriving at the far post to make a connection.
Battling Wolves had to withstand a lot of pressure with Ashley Young and
Milner, under the watchful eye of England manager Fabio Capello,
producing a lot of smart moves.
Milner and Young, making his 250th league appearance, combined to set up
the opening goal in the 17th minute.
The unmarked Milner gained possession in midfield and produced a 30-yard
pass to Young, who ducked inside Ronald Zubar to send a low cross into
the middle where Carew was on hand to score.
It was the big striker's 12th goal of the season and certainly added
increasing pressure on Wolves who struggled to compete in midfield
despite fielding a 4-5-1 line-up.
But in the 24th minute they surprised Villa when Craddock scored the
equaliser following a David Jones free-kick.
Stiliyan Petrov had been somewhat harshly booked for a tackle on Kevin
Doyle and from the free-kick Zubar nudged the ball into the path of
Craddock to notch his fifth goal of the season.
It was only the fifth time Wolves have scored in their last 12 away
matches and could not have come at a better time as it undoubtedly
lifted their game.
This was demonstrated in the 39th minute when Jones put Matt Jarvis
clear on the left. Jones ran into the area for the return pass only for
Milner to stab the ball into an empty net to give Wolves a surprise
interval lead.
It was backs to the wall for Wolves in the second half with Carew and
Heskey both going close to the elusive equaliser.
Carew finally provided the finishing touch when he deflected home
substitute Steve Sidwell's 83rd minute shot to maintain Villa's unbeaten
league record in 2010.
Source: DSG