Aston Villa 0-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Hosts European hopes suffer another setback after goalless draw
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Romain Saiss had the best opportunity to break the deadlock for Wolves
Aston Villa's European hopes suffered another setback as they were held to a goalless draw by Wolves in their West Midlands derby.
The hosts, who suffered a surprise loss to Sheffield United in midweek, dominated the early stages with Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa both hitting the crossbar.
But with the influential Jack Grealish again missing as he recovers from injury, Villa faded after the break as Wolves sparked into life.
Having failed to create a chance of note during the first period, Nuno Espirito Santo's visitors somehow contrived to miss several gilt-edged chances to snatch all three points.
Romain Saiss blazed an effort over the bar from practically on the goal-line after Conor Coady had headed against a post, while another close-range effort from Coady drew a superb save from Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to ensure the spoils were shared.
The result leaves Villa ninth in the table on 40 points while Wolves remain 12th, five points further back.
Villa desperate for Grealish return
'Very tough' for Villa to replace injured Grealish - Smith
Defeat by the Blades had left Villa boss Dean Smith calling for an instant reaction to boost hopes of qualifying for Europe for the first time in a decade.
And when Watkins fired a 25-yard effort against the bar it appeared to be a promising early signal of intent.
With Wolves barely able to get out of their own half it seemed only a matter of time before the hosts went in front, particularly when Konsa rattled the woodwork from Bertrand Traore's cross.
But until another late Konsa effort, that was the best Villa could muster.
With Grealish watching from the stands, Smith must have wished that he could turned to his talismanic captain as the game began to slip away.
Instead, Ross Barkley, a substitute for the third game running, was introduced but did little to push his case for a starting berth, managing just five touches in the Wolves half during his 35-minute cameo.
With Villa six points off Europa League qualification and seven from a Champions League spot, Smith will hope Grealish's impending return can prevent a season of promise ending with a whimper.
A tale of two halves for Wolves
Coady should have done better with Wolves chances - Nuno
Only Burnley, Newcastle, West Brom and Sheffield United have managed fewer goals on their travels than Wolves this season.
And having seemingly been set up to utilise the pace of Pedro Neto and Adama Traore on the counter, their first-half performance underlined many of the reasons why.
While Neto and Traore offer plenty with the ball at their feet they were scarcely given the opportunity to threaten as Wolves failed to record an effort on target.
Often receiving the ball deep, the duo were repeatedly smothered by Villa's three midfield players, and on the rare opportunities they managed to advance little arrived by the way of support.
Only Sheffield United have failed to score in more opening periods in the Premier League this term, but Wolves improved markedly after the break.
Neto tested Martinez five minutes after the interval to set the tone and both Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves appeared to have been given the freedom to roam forward.
A well-worked corner routine saw Coady hit the post before a stretching Saiss lifted the ball over the bar from barely a yard out.
Wolves were unfortunate that their next opportunity from Willian Jose's skewed shot also fell to their England defender Coady, who while excellent at the other end of the pitch - making more clearances than any other player (eight) - is not noted for his finishing prowess.
'It was the proverbial game of two halves' - what they said
Aston Villa boss Dean Smith, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "We were good first half, created some good chances and should've gone in ahead. They were good second half and created chances as well and they should've gone ahead. It was the proverbial game of two halves.
"Wolves upped their tempo and I couldn't work out if it was us being poor or them being better. I think it was a bit of both. We've created chances in the first half with some of our best play this season. We wanted to replicate it in the second half but unfortunately didn't.
"It probably is a point game but I was sitting at half-time thinking how are we not in front but I think it's a fair result."
On Jack Grealish: "He was back running on the anti-gravity treadmill a few days ago so once he's pain free he should be ready to go."
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "The first half we didn't play well but everything changed in the second half. We improved and I thought we were good.
"With the honesty I have with Conor [Coady], I think he should have done better [scored]. We were much better with the pressing in the second half. We played much better."
Villa keep another clean sheet - the stats
Wolves remain unbeaten in their last five away Premier League games against Aston Villa (W2 & D3), having lost on six of their previous seven trips to Villa Park in the top-flight before this (W1).
Aston Villa have failed to score in each of their last four home Premier League games against Wolves - only against Chelsea (a run of five between October 1995 - January 2000) and Man Utd (a run of five between March 2003 - December 2006) have they had a longer run of games without scoring against a specific opponent at Villa Park in the competition.
Aston Villa have kept 14 clean sheets in the Premier League this season, their highest tally in a single top-flight campaign since 2009-10 under Martin O'Neill (15), whilst only league leaders Man City (15) have kept more shut outs in the competition in 2020-21.
Wolves (P6 W0 D3 L3) are one of only two sides that remain winless in Premier League games played on a Saturday this season alongside Sheffield United (P9 W0 D0 L9).
Under Dean Smith, Aston Villa have won just two of their 12 home league games without Jack Grealish (D5 L5) and remain winless in such matches since a 2-1 victory against Bristol City in the Championship in April 2019 (P4 W0 D1 L3 since then).
Wolves have won just one of their last 10 away Premier League games (D4 L5), with that victory coming at Southampton in February.
No Argentine goalkeeper has more Premier League clean sheets than Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez (20, level with Julian Speroni).
Wolves captain Conor Coady has had a shot on target in his last two Premier League games, after not registering a single one in his first 102 appearances in the competition.
What's next?
Aston Villa travel to Newcastle in their next Premier League fixture on Friday, 12 March (20:00 GMT). Wolves welcome Liverpool to Molineux in their next top-flight game on Monday, 15 March (20:00).