Wolves hold Aston Villa to 1-1 draw in Premier League
WOLVERHAMPTON, England (AP) — Aston Villa missed the chance to climb into the Premier League’s top four after it was held to a 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton on Sunday.
Pau Torres equalized for Villa in the 55th minute, just two minutes after Hwang-Hee Chan had given Wolves the lead.
Villa nearly scored a winner after Wolves' Mario Lemina was sent off in stoppage time for a second booking as Ollie Watkins hit the post with the final touch of the match.
Villa would have gone above Liverpool with a win but stayed a point behind in fifth place.
For Wolves, it was another solid point following last week’s surprising 2-1 win over Manchester City to continue their progress under manager Gary O’Neil.
After a first half with few real chances, Wolves grabbed the lead after 53 minutes when Pedro Neto sent in a low cross for Hwang to poke in his fifth league goal of the season from close range.
But the celebrations were cut short just two minutes later when Villa hit back. The hosts failed to clear from Douglas Luiz’s free kick and Watkins’ cross was turned in by Torres.
Neto had a chance to score a winner with 12 minutes left when he was picked out by Sasa Kalajdzic’s excellent cross, but blazed over from 10 yards.
The hosts then had to see out eight of the 12 minutes of stoppage time with 10 men when Lemina was dismissed for a second yellow card.
Watkins almost snatched it with the final touch of the game when his header smacked the base of the post. ___
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