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.
Wolves manager Gary O’Neil insists Unai Emery’s decision to refuse a handshake at halftime was “a lot of nothing” as he played down the issue during their 0-0 draw with Aston Villa.
Emery walked straight down the tunnel as his Villa team failed to build on their recent good form in order to finish in the top four. Hwang Hee-Chan gave the hosts the lead after 53 minutes at Molineux, but Villa’s Pau Torres equalized just two minutes later, and the teams eventually settled for a point apiece.
Wolves were reduced to 10 men late in the game, but it was already four minutes into stoppage time when Mario Lemina was sent out for a second booking. Villa could have won it soon after, though, when in-form Ollie Watkins hit the post with the game’s final kick. At the final whistle, O’Neil argued with the fourth official, causing Emery to return to the locker room. And the Wolves’ leader was eager to deny any disagreement 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.”
Wolves’ finest first-half chance was blocked by Rayan Ait-Nouri, and Jose Sa had to be quick to tip Watkins’ shot over immediately after the interval. However, Wolves seized the lead after 53 minutes when Neto’s pace carried him past Torres to cross for Hwang to score his sixth goal of the season.
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Torres scored his first goal for Villa after turning in Watkins’ cross at the far post after Wolves were unable to clear Douglas Luiz’s free kick. Neto could have won the game with 12 minutes remaining when Sasa Kalajdzic’s brilliant cross found Wolves’ star man, only for him to fly wide from 10 yards.
After Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against Brighton, Villa would have moved into the Champions League places with a win.
“It’s a derby and we felt it on the pitch. There are a lot of supporters with us, they are pushing, it was a great atmosphere,” said Emery, who also called leaving without a handshake ‘nothing’.
“We tried to focus on the match. We reacted to the goal very quickly, it was key, and in 11 v 11 we created more chances but they had some very good transitions and chances.
“When they had a red card it was the moment where we tried to get the advantage.
“We are ambitious and very demanding. The first half we started very well but we lost a bit of control. We weren’t controlling the game and at that moment I was frustrated and upset.”
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