Aston Villa 1-0 Wolves: Kamara’s long-range stunner seals narrow derby win

Boubacar Kamara sealed a tight 1-0 derby victory for Aston Villa over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, with yet another spectacular effort from distance.

Jorgen Strand Larsen saw a goal ruled out after just 16 minutes for an offside call against Jhon Arias as Wolves turned out an improved performance in Rob Edwards’ second match in charge.

Emiliano Martinez was also called upon to respond to a flurry of Wolves chances on the stroke of half-time, including a first-time effort from Strand Larsen and a bullet header from Yerson Mosquera, which the Argentine pushed onto the crossbar.

An end-to-end affair ensued from there, with Youri Tielemans and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde exchanging powerful strikes on target, though Martinez and Sam Johnstone were on hand to deny them.

Kamara ultimately delivered the decisive moment and sent the Villa Park faithful into raptures midway through the second half as he unleashed a sensational strike from 20 yards out that lasered into the top-right corner.

Joao Gomes came close in stoppage-time, sending a fierce shot the way of Martinez to no avail as Wolves’ wait for their first win of the season continues, while Villa move, at least temporarily, up to third place in the Premier League table.

Data Debrief: Distance does the job for Villa

Aston Villa have often relied on long-range shooting as a viable tactic to breach deep-lying opposition defences this season, and Sunday was no exception.

Following Kamara’s stunner, nine of Villa’s 16 Premier League goals have been scored from outside the box – the most of any side in the league this season.

Reflecting that threat from distance, Villa generated 1.0 expected goals (xG), nearly double Wolves’ 0.49 xG.

Emery has now won 61 of his 114 Premier League matches as Aston Villa manager (D24 L29) – the joint-most victories by any Villa boss in the competition’s history, level with John Gregory and Martin O’Neill.