Aston Villa 3-1 Wolves: Ezri Konsa and Jhon Duran score late goals as Unai Emery's side go up to third after coming from behind to prevail in derby

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Aston Villa have mastered the art of winning below their best. Unai Emery considered this the worst performance of his time in charge but they still had enough firepower to blow away Wolves in a frenetic finale.

Emery feared a Champions League hangover following their midweek trip to Switzerland when Wolves went ahead through Matheus Cunha and missed chances to add a second.

It was only when supersub Jhon Duran arrived after an hour, the match swung. Ollie Watkins levelled with his side’s first shot on target after 73 minutes and when Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera was carried off, the outcome was predictable.

Defender Ezri Konsa put Villa ahead after 88 minutes with only his second goal since 2021 – the other was also against Wolves – and Duran made his customary goal contribution in injury-time, already the fourth he’s scored off the bench this season.

‘We were passive. We didn’t have energy. I was angry with myself at half-time,’ said Emery, who joined nine players in referee Tim Robinson’s notebook in a feisty west Midlands derby.

Jhon Duran (left) scored in the closing stages as Aston Villa came from behind to beat Wolves

Duran completed the comeback late on, with Unai Emery's side moving up to third place in the table

Ezri Konsa was jubilant after his goal put Villa in the ascendancy late on against Wolves

‘The first-half was very poor but we changed it. It is difficult, Champions League to Premier League, we are learning.’

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Defeat for Wolves means they sink to the bottom with Everton – same number of points (1) and goal difference (5-14).

The thunder and lightning at full-time summed up the visitor’s mood. ‘We never accept one point from five games but there needs to be some realism with the difficulty of the fixtures and the place this club has been in financially for a couple of years,’ said a reflective Gary O’Neil.

The afternoon had started with a tribute to Villa’s 1982 European Cup winner Gary Shaw who died last week aged 63 and it was nice to see Watkins break off from his warm-up to shake hands with all the club legends who had gathered along the touchline for the occasion..

Wolves made the quicker start with Mario Lemina twice denied by Emi Martinez before they went ahead after 25 minutes.

Carlos, making his first start of the season, undercooked a pass to Amadou Onana and Cunha intercepted.

From there, the Brazilian strode forward and buried a finish into the bottom corner.

Martinez denied Jorgen Strand Larsen before the interval and neither Lucas Digne nor John McGinn (hamstring) reappeared for the second half for Villa.

Konsa's goal, scored in the 88th minute, saw Villa complete an impressive comeback

Villa manager Emery celebrates after Konsa's goal had put his side 2-1 ahead

Ollie Watkins began the turnaround after scoring Villa's equaliser against Wolves on Saturday

Watkins scored in the 73rd minute, with Villa coming from behind to secure a point

Wolves now find themselves having slipped down to the bottom of the table, level on both points and goal difference with Everton 

Cunha opened the scoring for Wolves as he scored his second league goal of the season

Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera was carried off on a stretcher in the second half

Youri Tielemans gave the ball away in midfield and was fortunate Joao Gomes lacked pace to take advantage. It proved the wake-up call Villa heeded.

Watkins had their first chance after 68 minutes with a header hoofed off the line by Masquera but the near-miss was forgotten when he broke the visitor’s resistance.

A loose touch by Lemina handed Villa possession and Duran’s showed strength to help the ball reach Rogers. His pass to Watkins was buried by the England striker from eight yards – his team’s first effort on target.

The tide was turning. Without Mosquera, who will have a knee scan following a tangle with Rogers, Wolves couldn’t handle Tielemans’ cross and Konsa stretched at the far post to score.

There were a few groans when 13 minutes of injury-time was signalled but Villa put the game to bed when Rogers crossed low for Duran to turn in. Villa are up to third and showing last season’s exploits weren’t a one-off.