Julen Lopetegui
Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui claimed his side were full value for their 1-0 victory over Aston Villa at Molineux, but Unai Emery insisted a draw would have been a “fair result”.
Toti Gomes headed in the only goal of the game in the first half, as Villa failed to clear their lines from a corner. Villa created enough opportunties to find an equaliser, but Ollie Watkins and Tyrone Mings missed the best chances of the game for the away side.
After the match, Wolves boss Lopetegui was delighted with his side’s response in front of home fans, after losing 6-0 to Brighton last weekend.
Julen lopetegui said: “Of course this victory is about the merit of the players. We arrived here five months ago with 10 points after 16 matches at the bottom, four points from the team above. We were in a very bad situation with bad belief and low morale. The players have worked very hard and we have suffered. In the last game against Brighton, it was tough for us but they showed quality again. We have played against the best team in the second half of the season and we deserved to win. We are happy for the players.”
However, Villa boss Emery thought his side played well enough to take something from the game.
Unai Emery said: “If I can take off the result, I can be happy. We played differently today than we did at Brentford and Man Utd. We controlled the game better but in the first half I told them I want to watch my team playing like that. The second half was a little bit different because the match was slower. We had three chances to score in the first half and two in the second. Maybe the fair result was a draw. They [Wolves] have to play to get off the bottom and they have a game plan at home. They scored quickly but we played the match by trying to keep calm and trying to make our passes to the box. Overall, we are still making chances but we are disappointed. We appreciate the supporters and next week we will try to get to our target.”
