A superb strike from Boubacar Kamara earned Aston Villa a 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday and moved the hosts up to third in the Premier League standings.
The visitors had the better of the first-half chances and Jorgen Strand Larsen thought he had put them ahead but was denied by the offside flag, before a sensational Emiliano Martinez save kept the scores level just before the break.
It took until the second half for Villa to really get going, with Wolves missing several more chances before Kamara gave the home crowd something to shout about, arrowing a thunderous shot into the top corner in the 67th minute.
Villa stood firm to see out a fifth successive win in all competitions and move third in the standings, one point behind second-placed Manchester City. Wolves remained in deep trouble, bottom on two points and nine points from safety.
FIVE WINS IN A ROW 🖐️ pic.twitter.com/o1gnIMiJkI
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 30, 2025
"We knew before the game that this was a special game for the fans and the team," Kamara told Sky Sports. "We know how we are in the table so we have to keep progressing. It's an important three points."
TOUGH START FOR EDWARDS
New Wolves manager Rob Edwards did not get off to the best of starts with a home loss to Crystal Palace last week, ahead of a daunting trip an in-form Villa.
But Edwards's strugglers started well. Strand Larsen finished off a fine flowing move in the 16th minute, but Jhon Arias was adjudged to have been in Martinez's line of sight, when in an offside position.
The save from Martinez just before the interval was equally frustrating. Yerson Mosquera thought he had scored, but the Argentine stopper flung up an arm and tipped the goalbound header onto the underside of the crossbar.
The second half proved to be equally difficult for Edwards, as his side just could not find that killer final pass from several promising openings.
Kamara had no such issue. After being picked out on the edge of the penalty area he fired an unstoppable strike into the top corner to settle a contest Villa were second best in for long periods.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 30, 2025
Wolves have earned only two points from their opening 13 Premier League games this season – the second-fewest at this stage of a top-flight campaign in history, ahead of only Sheffield United in 2020-21.
"I deserve a goal, the team deserves a goal," Strand Larsen told Sky Sports. "The quality from them stops us.
"It's just really annoying and I'm lost for words. We did a really good game, maybe the best of the season."