Wolves’ Dominant Victory Exposes Aston Villa’s Shocking Premier League Collapse—What Sparked the Crisis?

It’s been a long, grueling stretch for Wolves, but finally—oh, finally!—they’ve snapped their nasty nine-game drought, clinching a well-deserved victory that sends shockwaves through the Premier League standings. Down at Molineux, Joao Gomes and Rodrigo Gomes each etched their names on the scoresheet in the second half, revitalizing a team languishing at the bottom and putting a serious dent in Aston Villa’s ambitions. For a squad sitting in third place, Villa’s defensive frailties that day were downright costly, leaving them vulnerable to their beleaguered neighbors—a twist no one saw coming so late in the campaign. With Manchester United breathing down Villa’s neck after this result, the West Midlands derby took on an even more significant edge, hinting at a potential shakeup in the race for those precious top spots. Wolves might be wallowing fourteen points adrift from safety and facing an uphill battle with just nine matches left, but this win delivers a spark of hope—and a loud message: don’t count them out just yet. LEARN MORE

Second-half strikes by Joao Gomes and Rodrigo Gomes gave Wolves an impressive first win in nine matches as the rock-bottom side in the Premier League put West Midlands neighbours Aston Villa at risk of being overtaken by Manchester United this weekend.

Generous defending by the third-placed Villans allowed Joao Gomes to lift a finish past goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez from inside the box to break the deadlock in the 61st minute at Molineux, pouncing after Adam Armstrong applied a touch to Jackson Tchatchoua’s cross from the right.

João Gomes breaks the deadlock after a sweeping move! 🔓 pic.twitter.com/wNDF2GHTJF

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 27, 2026

Wolves head coach Rob Edwards turned to celebrate jubilantly with the visiting fans when Rodrigo Gomes swivelled to fire in a low finish and double his side’s advantage in the 98th minute, the ricochet from Joao Gomes’ blocked shot falling for the wideman.

United will overhaul Villa if they win at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday (14:00 GMT). Wolves are 14 points from safety with nine matches of their league season remaining.

Rodrigo Gomes seals the win for Wolves! ✅ pic.twitter.com/GXdgfi4kxc

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 27, 2026

Analysis: Villa falter again with defeat at Wolves

Villa boss Unai Emery had publicly warned his players that Wolves had not deserved to lose 1-0 at Villa Park shortly after Rob Edwards arrived in November, and the doomed-looking visitors gained revenge with their only attempt on target against opponents who have had a faltering February, remaining five points behind Manchester City and 10 shy of Arsenal after this result.

Pau Torres miscued a header from a presentable opportunity, Ollie Watkins hesitated when well placed to shoot inside the box and Douglas Luiz sent a volley at goalkeeper Jose Sa as the hosts laboured before the break, with Sa then pushing an Ian Maatsen strike from close range away after Wolves took the lead.

Former Wolves striker Don Goodman said he had been “really disappointed” by Villa’s performance before the first goal.

“They have not been able to put Wolves on the back foot and under sustained pressure,” Goodman told Sky Sports. “That is what I expected in the second half.”

Here’s how Villa fared this month, winning one of their five league matches and losing three out of six in all competitions.

What’s going wrong for Villa? Wolves tactical ‘gameplan’ works

“They’re nowhere near the team I’ve seen this season,” former Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie told the broadcaster, whose coverage appeared to show defender Ezri Konsa looking unhappy with disgruntled fans.

“I’m seeing a team who look scared to create – players coming on are not an impact. There are lots of things I could pick out.

“That is just not good enough. You come up against a side who are bottom of the Premier League… in a big derby game, that is a big wake-up call for Villa.”

Former England women’s international Izzy Christiansen said Villa were “really poor in possession”. “You can’t help but look at the fact that Rob Edwards’ gameplan stopped Villa from doing what they wanted to do,” added Christiansen.

“He challenged the way they set up and they’ve got a result to show for it. From Villa’s perspective, it was a really dire performance.

“Abysmal is the perfect word to describe it. They look so disconnected. They’ve been so well coached in the last few years but they’re on a bad run and they could end up paying for that massively.”

A clever flick from Mateus Mané forces Matty Cash into a foul 🟨 pic.twitter.com/8x0ioNdWNH

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 27, 2026

Wolves team vs Aston Villa

On-loan Girona defender or midfielder Ladislav Krejci was suspended for Wolves after being sent off against Palace.

Defender Toti and midfielder Joao Gomes were the new faces in their starting side, with Tolu Arokodare moving to the bench.

Forward Hee Chan Hwang had returned to training following an injury but was not involved. Winger Enso Gonzalez had a long-term knee injury.

Wolves starting XI: Jose Sa, Yerson Mosquera, Santiago Bueno, Toti Gomes, Jackson Tchatchoua, Joao Gomes, Andre, Hugo Bueno, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Adam Armstrong, Mateus Mane

Wolves substitutes: Sam Johnstone, Matt Doherty, David Moller Wolfe, Tolu Arokodare, Pedro Lima, Rodrigo Gomes, Angel Gomes, Saheed Olagunju, Tom Edozie

Aston Villa team vs Wolves

Villa made three changes, bringing in defenders Pau Torres and Lucas Digne and winger Jadon Sancho for Tyrone Mings, Maatsen and Leon Bailey.

Goalkeeper Marco Bizot returned on the bench following suspension, joined by new winger Alysson, who had not featured since making his debut against Brighton & Hove Albion on February 11, missing two matches through injury since then.

Midfielders John McGinn, Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara remained out.

Aston Villa starting XI: Emiliano Martinez, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne, Jadon Sancho, Amadou Onana, Morgan Rogers, Douglas Luiz, Emiliano Buendia, Ollie Watkins

Aston Villa substitutes:, Marco Bizot, Victor Lindelof, Tyrone Mings, Ross Barkley, Tammy Abraham, Ian Maatsen, Lamare Bogarde, Leon Bailey, Alysson

Wolves vs Aston Villa stats

• Wolves have won five of their last seven Premier League home games against Villa (D1 L1) and are unbeaten in five since a 1-0 defeat in December 2020
• Rob Edwards’ side have failed to score in a league-high 15 different Premier League games this season. Only in 2009/10 (17) and 2021/22 (16) have they failed in more in a single campaign
• Each of Wolves’ previous seven Premier League wins (dating to March 2025) had been against teams in the bottom seven, with those sides having an average position of 17th. They had been winless in 17 against sides in the top half (D5 L12) since a 1-0 win at Bournemouth in February 2025
• Their record of conceding first in 22 different Premier League games this season is the worst of any team. Of the 40 teams to play more than 200 games in the competition, Wolves have conceded first in the highest percentage of them (59.6%, doing so in 266 of 446 matches)
• Villa had won three of their previous four Premier League games against Wolves (L1), as many as in their previous 15 (D6 L6)
• They failed to complete a Premier League double in the fixture for the first time since 2003/04
• Since a run of eight Premier League wins in a row between November 9 and December 27 this season, Villa haven’t had a repeated result in any of their last 10 games (LWDLWLDWDL), last drawing consecutive games in September against Everton and Sunderland
• Three of Villa’s last four Premier League goals have been scored during the last five minutes of normal time (88th, 86th and 88th), while they have netted 63.2% of their goals during the second half of games (24/38)
• Only in 2015/16 (70.4%), 1999/00 (69.6%) and 2007/08 (66.2%) have they scored a higher share of second-half goals in a Premier League season

What’s next for Wolves and Aston Villa? Fixtures, schedule

Wolves host one of the teams chasing Villa, Liverpool, twice in a week: in the league on Tuesday (20:15) and in the FA Cup fifth round on Friday (20:15).

Villa host Chelsea on Wednesday (19:30), then visit French side Lille in the first leg of the Europa League last 16 on March 12 (17:45).