After a rival from Aston Villa declines to shake hands, Wolves manager Gary O’Neil responds to Unai Emery.

In the Midlands derby on Sunday, Wolves and Aston Villa fought to a 1-1 draw after Hwang Hee-Chan’s goal was cancelled out by Pau Torres’ equalizer two minutes later.

In the Midlands derby on Sunday, Wolves and Aston Villa fought to a 1-1 draw after Hwang Hee-Chan’s goal was cancelled out by Pau Torres’ equalizer two minutes later.

 

Mario Lemina was given his marching orders for receiving a second booking four minutes into stoppage time, although Wolves had already been down to 10 men by that point. But shortly after, Villa had a chance to win when Ollie Watkins, who was in fine form, hit the post with the game’s final kick.

After the final whistle, O’Neil argued with the fourth official, which caused Emery to return to the locker room. The Wolves manager also quickly denied that there was any animosity between them.

He said: “It was a lot of nothing, I was moaning at the fourth [official] about playing 114 minutes and Unai didn’t want to wait for the handshake so he went to walk down the tunnel. I just said: ‘No problem, go down the tunnel’.

“I’ve waited ages for people (managers in the past), I understand that they want to talk with the fourth official.

“My conversation with the fourth official was about eight seconds long so he wouldn’t have had to wait very long. But I understand if he doesn’t want to, no problem. I’ve got no problem with Unai at all.

“I thought we edged it 11 v 11, apart from the start but a point is fairish I’d suggest. We looked comfortable, there wasn’t a huge gap between the sides.

“Eight points is not a bad return, we’re managing to score goals and trying to improve.”

Rayan Ait-Nouri steered Wolves’ best first-half chance wide and Jose Sa needed to be alert to divert Watkins’ effort over soon after the break.

But Wolves struck first after 53 minutes when Neto’s pace took him past Torres to cross for Hwang to net his sixth goal of the season.

The lead lasted just two minutes as Torres netted his first Villa goal when he turned in Watkins’ cross at the far post after Wolves were unable to clear Douglas Luiz’s free kick.

With 12 minutes left Neto should have settled the game when Sasa Kalajdzic’s excellent cross found Wolves’ star man only for him to blaze over from 10 yards.

Wolves then had to navigate eight of the 12 minutes of stoppage time with 10 men after Lemina was dismissed, earning a second yellow card for a tug on Nicolo Zaniolo.

When Watkins struck the base of the post with the game’s final touch, Villa came dangerously close to cashing in.

Villa would have qualified for the Champions League after Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Brighton with a win.

“We could tell that it was a derby on the field. It was a terrific environment, and we have a lot of supporters pushing us along,” added Emery, who also described leaving without shaking hands as “nothing.”

“We tried to concentrate on the game. It was crucial that we responded to the goal fast. In the 11-on-11 match, we produced more chances, but they also had some excellent transitions and opportunities.

“We attempted to gain the upper hand after they received a red card.

“We have high aspirations and high standards. We had a strong first half start, but we lost some composure. I was angry and disappointed because we weren’t in control of the game.