After being recalled to the England squad and signing a new contract with Aston Villa, it was already a memorable week for Ollie Watkins but it could have been even better.
In the 14th minute of added time at the end of a frantic contest, Watkins rose to smash a header against the post and the chance to win this Midlands derby was gone.
The Villa forward scored a hat-trick in last Saturday’s 6-1 demolition of Brighton but will be reflecting on this moment as he reports for international duty with Gareth Southgate’s squad this week.
Watkins is back in the England set-up for the first time since March last year and has been revitalised under Unai Emery, with 25 goal involvements since the manager’s appointment.
Villa would have hoisted themselves into the top-four with a victory and there is no question that Emery is prioritising the Premier League over any other competition this season.
Emery has spotted an opportunity to secure a place in the Champions League next season and was clearly pumped up for this bitter local argument.
Throughout the afternoon he was a whirlwind of activity in the technical area and, at the final whistle, briefly clashed with Gary O’Neil.
Emery did not shake hands with the Wolves manager and was left to rue the late drama involving his star striker.
“I was waiting to tell him [O’Neil] ‘congratulations’ and I offered my hand but he was talking with the assistant referee and he left,” he said.
“We are ambitious and I am very demanding with the players but we lost a little control in the first-half. I was frustrated and upset a little bit.
“It was a derby and we felt it on the pitch. We had chances at the end to win but couldn’t take them.”
Wolves are now unbeaten in their last five encounters with Villa and survived a late onslaught of pressure with 10 men, after midfielder Mario Lemina was sent off.
By the end, Wolves were clinging on but it was another impressive performance with a fine opening goal from Hwang Hee-chan, created by the excellent Pedro Neto.
O’Neil insisted the brief exchange with Emery after the final whistle was “a lot of nothing”.
He said: “I was moaning at the fourth official for playing 114 minutes and Unai didn’t want to wait, so he went down the tunnel.
“I’ve absolutely no problem with Unai. It would have been a big blow if we’d lost because of the control we had on the game.
“I think the points return has been good for the games we have had.”
While the action on the field was absorbing enough, Emery was at times box office in the technical area.
The brooding but brilliant Basque coach was in constant motion, frequently turning around to his staff and throwing up his arms in exasperation.
He appeared unhappy with how Villa were pressing, and at one moment midway through the first-half made a theatrical retreat to his seat in the dug-out.
Emery was also a part-time peacemaker, pleading for calm from both benches after a brief confrontation between coaches following a spat involving John McGinn and Rayan Ait-Nouri.
In the second-half, a football match finally broke out.
Wolves took a 53rd minute lead after a flash of individual brilliance from Neto, bursting down the right to elude Pau Torres and then deliver a cross for Hwang whose finish was clinical.
Villa were level within 90 seconds, with Torres steering Watkins’s cross in at the far post to register his first goal for the club.
Wolves wasted two opportunities to win, with Nelson Semedo denied by Emiliano Martinez before Neto crashed the ball over the bar from close range.
Fourteen minutes of added time ramped up the tension and Lemina was dismissed for a second caution, a needless pull on the shirt of substitute Nicolo Zaniolo.
Villa applied late pressure, with Zaniolo’s volley dribbling wide and Jose Sa saving from Ezri Konsa, while Watkins will wonder how his header did not settle the match.
