Wolves 0-1 Aston Villa: Anwar El Ghazi penalty wins West Midlands derby
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Anwar El Ghazi's penalty was his first goal since also scoring a late penalty against Manchester City in January
Substitute Anwar El Ghazi converted a stoppage-time penalty as Aston Villa snatched victory in their West Midlands derby at Wolves.
Wolves had the better of their first home game since striker Raul Jimenez suffered a fractured skull, with Fabio Silva hitting a post midway through the second half.
Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez then denied Leander Dendoncker, before the visitors had midfielder Douglas Luiz sent off after picking up a second booking late on.
But Nelson Semedo brought down John McGinn in injury-time, handing El Ghazi the chance to sidefoot home his first goal since January from the spot.
There was still time for the hosts to have midfielder Joao Moutinho dismissed for a second yellow card as Villa clinched their second win in six games, climbing back above their local rivals to eighth in the table.
With Jimenez set for a lengthy absence, Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo gave a first Premier League start to 18-year-old striker Silva, their club record £35.6m summer signing from Porto.
Villa also gave a teenager his first start in England's top flight - 19-year-old midfielder Jacob Ramsey - but with no fans present, this was hardly the baptism of fire you might expect from a regular West Midlands derby.
No Silva lining in Jimenez's absence
Wolves fans arranged a banner featuring a "get well soon" message for Raul Jimenez, plus their popular song Wolves Aywe.
With Wolverhampton still under tier three coronavirus restrictions, supporters have to wait a little longer to return to Molineux.
But they have shown their support for Jimenez by raising £21,000 to pay for a huge banner in the Steve Bull Stand which reads "Fuerza Raul", and they also arranged for an aeroplane to circle the stadium before kick-off, towing a "get well soon" message.
Jimenez's team-mates were still coming to terms with the severity of his injury as they lost 4-0 at Liverpool last weekend but Nuno said the Mexico forward gave everyone "a big lift" when he visited the club's Compton training ground on Wednesday.
Jimenez's injury has hastened Silva's introduction to the starting line-up, after six substitute appearances, and he was a lively frontrunner, with Daniel Podence, Adama Traore and Pedro Neto probing in behind.
Podence had a shot deflected wide from Neto's cutback and a fierce low strike saved, while Dendoncker fired straight at Martinez.
Silva glanced a Moutinho free-kick wide in first-half stoppage time and then almost broke the deadlock when he latched on to Podence's perfectly weighted pass, but his first-time effort came back off the far post.
The Portuguese teenager went close again with an overhead kick, while Martinez made a fine save to keep out Dendoncker's volley from Neto's Rabona cross, but Wolves were undone by a lapse at the back.
Having stuck with a four-man defence, Wolves looked solid for the most part, until McGinn got in behind right-back Semedo to earn the spot-kick.
The perfect away performance - almost
This routine stop from a Romain Saiss header was one of seven saves by Emiliano Martinez, compared with one from Wolves keeper Rui Patricio
For the most part, this derby did not deliver the same entertainment as Villa's recent defeats by Brighton and West Ham, but manager Dean Smith will surely not care one jot having pulled off another fine result on the road.
Villa have now won four out of five away games in the league and had it not been for Martinez's heroics, and Luiz's red card, you might say it was the perfect away performance.
In the first half they looked comfortable in a 4-3-3 formation, with Ramsey a lively introduction on the left side of midfield.
They were happy to contain Wolves as much as possible, though they rarely threatened themselves despite spending more time in the hosts' final third.
But Villa were straight on the front foot in the second half, with Luiz firing wide and Jack Grealish's free-kick going just over.
Wolves keeper Rui Patricio was also forced to turn a deflected Ollie Watkins strike wide at his near post, yet the hosts managed to take more control and looked the most likely side to claim a late winner.
Then Grealish linked up with McGinn - who signed a new five-year contract on Friday - and El Ghazi was allowed to do the honours from the penalty spot, ensuring Villa's excellent start to the season has not gone to waste.
'We have to find solutions without Jimenez' - what they said
Wolves 0-1 Aston Villa: Nuno frustrated by 'disappointing' Wolves defeat
Wolves boss Nuno: "It's always disappointing to lose. We played good. In the first half it was an intense game and both teams were tight. [There were] too many fouls, it did not flow.
"In the second it was better. We controlled the game and had clear chances. We try to keep on growing on these aspects and be more clinical."
On Silva's debut: "He worked well. He was linking with team-mates and had good chances. He worked hard. The idea to make a player grow is to help him and support him during competition."
On scoring goals without Jimenez: "It is something we have to do as a team - find solutions. But today we had [chances] - let's work now on the final touch."
'Great win' for Aston Villa despite 'poor' referee decisions - Dean Smith
Villa manager Smith: "It's always the best way, to leave it late, because there's less chance of them coming back. We deserved a point but kept competing and got the win.
"I thought we started both halves the better team. Wolves had a couple of good spells where our goalkeeper's made some really good saves, but to go down to 10 men and keep playing as we did and win the penalty was excellent. To come here and get a clean sheet and a win is excellent.
"I am pleased with the start we've had. There was only the Leeds game [4-0 defeat] that we deserved to get beaten this season. We're 10 games in and if you deserve to get something out of nine, you are doing well."
Villa like leaving it late - the stats
El Ghazi's goal was Aston Villa's fourth stoppage-time winner in the Premier League since the start of last season, twice as many as any other side.
Since the start of 2019-20, Villa have seen 10 opposition players sent off in the Premier League, two more than any other team.
There were 38 fouls conceded in this match (23 Wolves, 15 Aston Villa), the most of any top-flight game this season.
This was Villa boss Smith's 500th game as a manager (Walsall 260, Brentford 143, Aston Villa 97), and his 182nd victory (168 defeats and 150 draws).
At 18 years 146 days old, Silva became the second-youngest player to start a Premier League game for Wolves after Anthony Forde against Arsenal in December 2011 (18 years 41ddays).
Ramsey (19 years 198 days) became the youngest player to make his first start for Villa in the top flight since Isaiah Osbourne against Liverpool in October 2006 (18 years 357 days).
Adama Traore is without a goal or assist in 19 league matches, after racking up nine goal involvements in his previous 19.
What's next?
Jimenez hopes to be watching from the stands as Wolves host Chelsea on Tuesday (18:00 GMT), before visiting Burnley the following Monday (17:30).
Villa welcome Burnley on Thursday (18:00), then go to West Brom for another local derby next Sunday (19:15).
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