The truth about Aston Villa's 'disappointing' performance against Wolves

Aston Villa suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss to their local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday afternoon but the performance itself may not be as worrying as many fans may assume.

Villa looked sloppy and off the pace to begin this fixture, which led to Wolves taking the lead through Jonny in the seventh minute, following a catalogue of errors from Steven Gerrard's men in their own half. Slips from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa opened the door for a frantic passage of play for the visitors, which sadly ended with an impressive first time effort finding the back of the net for the Wolves right back.

Following the early goal, Villa's threat and hold on the game looked to be slowly slipping away, as the hosts pushed for a second. Which eventually came in the form of an obscure Ashley Young own goal, after the 36-year-old replaced Lucas Digne shortly after the first goal due to stomach problems.

A cross was fired at the back post by Marcal where Young battled with Francisco Trincao with the aim of getting the ball cleared to safety. However, the ball cannoned off the experienced full back into the top corner of Emi Martinez's net, leaving Villa with a mountain to climb going into the half time break.

The game of course finished 2-1 following a late Ollie Watkins penalty, with Gerrard outlining his side "never turned up for" the fixture on the afternoon. Despite this scathing review from the Villa boss, the performance itself may not be as disastrous as many assume. Villa recorded an expected goals (xG) of 2.1 xG compared to Wolves who registered 1.5 xG on the afternoon. As well as recording more shots (15), shot creating actions (23) and shots on target (5) than the hosts.

In terms of creativity, it was the second