Jonny on target again as Wolves beat Aston Villa to climb up to seventh in the Premier League

If Steven Gerrard and Bruno Lage have their way, both Aston Villa and Wolves will be busy in the transfer market this summer and this match made clear which club has the tougher rebuilding job.

Without two key players in Ruben Neves and Raul Jimenez, Wolves were still able to record a crucial win as Jonny gave them an early lead and Ashley Young’s bizarre own-goal put them clear by half-time.

After the morale-shattering 3-2 home defeat by Leeds before the international break, Wolves showed real mettle here to revive their European hopes for winning their 2,500th home fixture in league football.

Villa, meanwhile, recorded three consecutive defeats for the first time under Gerrard with a patchy display that will make the manager even more determined to hit the reset button when the season ends.

The club have spent close to £400million since winning promotion in 2019 and the grim truth for their billionaire owners is that it may take a similar sum to fulfill their ambitions of cracking the Premier League elite.

Though Ollie Watkins scored a late penalty and missed two great chances in the second half, Wolves might have been out of sight by then, with their coach Bruno Lage leaping and bouncing his way through the game on the touchline.

The match threatened to spill over several times in the second half, with three episodes where numerous players confronted each other and had to be pulled apart.

The absence of the injured Neves and the suspended Jimenez had seemed to affect Wolves in the early stages as they looked jittery at the back, with both Willy Boly and Max Kilman leaving fans with hearts in mouths.

Yet from their first attack, Wolves scored. Ezri Konsa slipped trying to cut out Joao Moutinho’s pass which let in Daniel Podence. John McGinn blocked his effort and Lucas Digne did the same with Fabio Silva’s follow-up, only for the loose ball to reach Jonny. The Spaniard’s volley was true and gave Emiliano Martinez no chance.

Martinez kept his side’s heads above water after another defensive error moments later. Tyrone Mings lost his footing trying to cut out Jonny’s long pass, letting Silva in on goal and forcing Martinez into a smart save.

Things then became even worse for Villa when Lucas Digne, who has only just back after three weeks out with a hamstring injury, was replaced by Ashley Young after only 12 minutes.

Villa managed to regain a little control after that though they were rarely able to worry Jose Sa. The only time the Portuguese was called into action in the first half was to turn over a 30-yard effort from Leon Bailey.

Wolves survived the corner and nine minutes before half-time, doubled their lead in comical fashion. Moutinho released Marcal on the left and when Francisco Trincao could not convert the cross, Young did the job for him by heading in off his own bar.

Though it was a fine ball and Young’s view was blocked by Trincao, it was still a horrible goal to concede. To compound Young’s embarrassment, the goal was replayed several times on the giant screen, Wolves fans reacting with ever more delight at each re-run.

Villa were in disarray after that, with Gerrard slumped in the dug-out, and a more ruthless team would have punished them. Trincao was too slow to shoot in the final minute of the half and Young made an excellent recovery tackle.

Then Martinez made a meal of keeping out Trincao’s effort from distance and then Leander Dendoncker shot wide from a promising position as Wolves broke decisively following a Villa corner.

Surprisingly, Gerrard made no further changes to his line-up for the second half and his team should have had at least one back before the hour mark. Kilman blocked a shot from Ollie Watkins and Boly cleared the danger, before Watkins wasted a glorious opportunity in the 56thminute.

Young’s long ball from the back caught Boly napping and with Sa in two minds, Watkins had a free run on goal. His effort to beat Sa but also slid wide.

Watkins then infuriated Wolves, who had kicked the ball out for a Villa player to receive treatment. When Young tried to return it to Sa, Watkins intercepted it and though the situation was never truly dangerous for the home side, several players surrounded Watkins when the game stopped.

Throughout the second half, Wolves had been largely happy to play a waiting game, though the wasted chance to wrap up the game when the outstanding Moutinho’s effort was blocked and substitute Hwang Hee-Chan put the rebound a fraction wide.

Then at the other end, Sa made a reaction save to thwart Philippe Coutinho. Martinez did the same to push over Silva’s swerving strike and then Watkins – from a position virtually identical to his earlier miss – fired against the legs of Sa.

Watkins finally got on the scoresheet in the 86th minute when Sa was ruled to have upended him and he guided in the penalty off the post. In stoppage time, with temperatures fraying, Matty Cash came desperately close to equalizing with a far-post volley that was deflected wide.