Wolves and Villa win in midweek, as West Brom and Birmingham look to get back on track: West Midlands football roundup

National World - LocalTV

Wolves and Aston Villa go into the weekend off the back of wins in the Premier League in midweek, whilst West Brom and Birmingham are both looking to return to winning ways.

Transcript

00:00 We start with Wolves on Tuesday evening.

00:02 They were 1-0 victors over Burnley,

00:04 who themselves had just come off the back of a 5-0 hammering

00:07 of Sheffield United.

00:09 The win sees Wolves into 13th place,

00:11 and only a point away from the top half of the Premier League.

00:14 Nottingham Forest at home is the next fixture for Gary O'Neill's men.

00:18 Wolves' home form is certainly what is propelling them up the table,

00:22 having made Molineux a tough place to visit.

00:25 They will be playing in the Premier League

00:27 and will be hoping to continue that good form against Forest.

00:31 West Brom were on the end of a last-minute loss

00:34 at the Hawthorns at the weekend at the hands of Leicester City.

00:38 This saw them drop to fifth ahead of a trip to Man Under Sunderland

00:42 at the weekend in the aim of getting back on track

00:45 against a team going through a tricky spell.

00:48 Our Birmingham World reporter Charlie Haffenden

00:51 was at Villa Park on Wednesday,

00:53 to see Aston Villa defeat the champions.

00:57 This is what he had to say.

00:59 Aston Villa have just beaten the Premier League champions,

01:02 Manchester City, and leapfrogged them in December.

01:05 This isn't August, this isn't September,

01:07 this is December and getting serious now.

01:09 Unai Emery's team up to third in the Premier League,

01:12 maybe top four contenders, maybe even title contenders

01:15 if they can beat Arsenal this weekend.

01:17 I don't think fans should get too carried away,

01:19 but things are getting very exciting here,

01:21 especially at Villa Park.

01:23 Obviously a few results on the road, not quite going their way,

01:26 but here it's become such a fortress in the Premier League,

01:29 arguably the hardest ground for any team to go,

01:32 even the league champions coming here.

01:34 It wasn't a fluke result either, it was a deserved win.

01:37 From start to finish, Villa fought,

01:39 they won every second ball near enough.

01:41 There was a little bit of a cagey moment or two in the first half

01:44 and maybe to start the second,

01:46 but when it came to the chance creation, Villa were better.

01:49 There was a double save from Emi Martinders in the first half,

01:52 Erling Haaland a header and also a cross-field shot as well, saved.

01:57 Could have been a very different evening if one of those had gone in,

02:00 but those saves were made by the goalkeeper,

02:02 sent Villa on their way.

02:04 So many opportunities, Bailey had three or four shots on target

02:07 and he was the man to score the winning goal.

02:09 It was deflected, it was probably one of the most unlikely office shots

02:12 to go in, but it was deflected off Diaz into the top corner,

02:15 sent the ground into Pandemonium, a very well-deserved goal.

02:18 It felt like it might actually be Unai Emery's first ever 0-0

02:21 in the Premier League, but the goal was got

02:23 and an amazing, huge three points now for Aston Villa in the Premier League.

02:27 Can they get top four?

02:29 Villa welcome league leaders Arsenal to Villa Park this weekend

02:34 in what will be another tough test for Unai Emery against his former club.

02:39 Finally, Birmingham City could not manage another win at the weekend,

02:44 being held to a goalless draw by Rotherham.

02:46 They face Coventry away from home next,

02:49 with only a point separating the sides.

02:52 Wayne Rooney will know the importance of points at this stage of the season.

02:56 That's all for your West Midlands football round-up this week,

03:00 ahead of another busy weekend.

03:02 weekend.

03:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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