Boubacar Kamara’s stunning strike earns Aston Villa victory against Wolves
By Jonathan Veal, PA
Boubacar Kamara’s stunning goal was enough to earn Aston Villa their seventh win in eight Premier League games and bragging rights over local rivals Wolves.
The Frenchman expertly fired home in the second half to secure a 1-0 victory which moved Villa up to third in the table ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Arsenal later on Sunday.
It was a goal worthy of the three points as Villa continued to show they are again going to be competing at the top end of the table.
That looked questionable after a dreadful summer transfer window led to a lacklustre start to the campaign, where they failed to win any of their opening five games and scored just once.
But the following eight games have shown Villa are again going in the right direction under Unai Emery.
For Wolves, the Championship trap door is getting closer with every passing week as they are rooted to the foot of the table, nine points off safety.
New boss Rob Edwards might have been celebrating a first point in charge had it not been for some big first-half saves by Emiliano Martinez, which proved pivotal.
Villa were keen to get on the front foot and almost took the lead inside three minutes as Wolves goalkeeper Sam Johnstone’s errant punch deflected off the shoulder of Kamara and onto the crossbar.
But Wolves settled and thought they had taken the lead in the 16th minute.
Jackson Tchatchoua was set free down the right and he pulled the ball back for Jorgen Strand Larsen, who found the corner with a scuffed finish from 12 yards.
However, Jhon Arias was stood in front of Martinez and the goal was ruled out.
This is a feisty rivalry and challenges were flying in, with Wolves showing they have not given up the fight just yet.
And it was the visitors who again came closest to going in front, only for Martinez to produce two saves to keep his side level.
He produced a smart stop to deny Strand Larsen after another slick Wolves move down the right, but his second save was even better.
From the resulting corner, he clawed Yerson Mosquera’s powerful header onto the underside of the crossbar.
Villa needed an equally heroic tackle from Pau Torres to prevent Strand Larsen tapping in Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s inviting cross shortly after the restart.
It had been a difficult afternoon for the hosts and they needed something special to go ahead midway through the second half.
John McGinn burrowed down the right and cut the ball back to Kamara and the Frenchman did the rest, effortlessly lashing a left-footed drive into the top corner from 20 yards.
Villa suddenly had impetus and Donyell Malen could have made it 2-0 shortly afterwards but Johnstone blocked having previously gone walkabouts for a cross.
Kamara’s moment of magic proved to be enough, with Martinez denying Joao Gomes at the death, as Emery’s men march on and Wolves remain winless after 13 games.
