Last updated on .From the section Premier League

Ruben Neves has scored 11 of his 14 goals for Wolves from outside the penalty area.

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith said his side paid for a lack of desire in their West Midlands derby defeat at Wolves.

Villa, who remain 17th in the Premier League - three points above the bottom three - were second best for long periods against the hosts, with Trezeguet's late consolation goal adding a flattering complexion to the scoreline.

And while Villa were without several regular starters, Smith said the media would not be able to "print" what he told his players after a disappointing first half.

"The game seemed bigger to them than it was to us," Smith said.

"We were poor and they [the players] got a reminder at half-time that they must win their duels and compete. You can't give any team a 45 minute head start and all I took from the first half was we were only 1-0 down.

"In the second half we got a better performance but it didn't take much to achieve that."

Wolves, who climbed from 15th up to eighth, to move into the top half of the Premier League for the first time since the opening weekend, were always in control.

Inside a raucous Molineux, Nuno Espirito Santo's side repeatedly carved the visitors open, but had to wait until the stroke of half-time to open the scoring.

Joao Moutinho's clever free-kick, deceived the Villa defence and allowed Ruben Neves to whip a right-foot effort into the bottom right corner from 18-yards.

Adama Traore went close to adding a second for the hosts after the break, while Brazilian forward Wesley curled Villa's best chance over.

Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota also missed good opportunities before Jimenez's sweeping right-foot shot confirmed Wolves first top-flight win over Villa since 1978.

Traore terrorises former employers

This was another performance that suggested Wolves are now up and running after their slow start to the season.

Already on the brink of reaching the Europa League knockout stages, Nuno's side are now unbeaten in seven Premier League matches and were worthy winners against out-of-sorts opponents.

It was one-way traffic in the first half as Jota, Jimenez and Matt Doherty all failed to convert chances that could have put the hosts out of sight by the interval.

With the game being played almost exclusively in the Villa half the visitors did not manage an effort on goal until the half-hour mark.

"We played very well, we dominated the game, especially in the first half. I'm happy with the performance and atmosphere," said Nuno.

"We're happy because we made the second goal and could have made more."

Another feature throughout was the sight of Adama Traore, who has been called up to the Spain squad, terrorising the Villa defence.

The 23-year-old, who scored in his one and only start during his time at Villa Park, repeatedly skipped past Matt Targett and his replacement Neil Taylor.

Traore's searing pace also created Jimenez's decisive second goal, with the winger eluding Douglas Luiz, before picking out the Mexican on the left-side of the penalty area.

It capped a fine individual display from Traore, who is now beginning to fulfil the potential he exhibited in Barcelona's 'La Masia' youth system.

Villa flatter to deceive

Aston Villa made the 20-mile trip to Molineux looking to do a double over Wolves having knocked their local rivals out of the Carabao Cup 11 days ago.

However, they delivered a disjointed and disappointing performance and struggled to gain any sort of foothold in the game until the final quarter.

The absence of the injured Heaton and defender Björn Engels were keenly felt at the back, while without Grealish, their was a distinct lack of spark to their attacking.

John McGinn struggled to impose himself in midfield, while Marvelous Nakamba was a peripheral figure and was later replaced by Henri Lansbury.

They were also not helped by an early injury to replacement goalkeeper, Jed Steer, which saw Norwegian Orjan Nyland, make his first appearance for almost 12 months.

While Trezeguet did offer some threat down the flank, the Egyptian did not come to the fore until Villa were chasing an equaliser late in the game.

Man of the match - Adama Traore (Wolves)

Adama Traore won the free-kick that led to the Wolves first goal and provided an assist for their second goal.

Fortress Molineux - the stats

Wolves picked up their first top-flight home victory against Aston Villa in 10 games (W1 D3 L6), since a 3-1 win in May 1978.

Wolves have only lost one of their past 14 Premier League home games (W8 D5), a 2-5 loss to Chelsea in September.

Aston Villa have only kept one clean sheet in their last 24 Premier League matches on the road, a 0-0 draw with West Brom in January 2016.

Ruben Neves has now scored 14 goals for Wolves in all competitions, with 11 of those coming from outside the box.

Among Premier League players, only Raheem Sterling (14) has scored more goals in all competitions this season than Wolves' Raul Jimenez (13), who netted on his 50th Premier League appearance.

Since the start of last season, Joao Moutinho has provided more Premier League assists than any other Wolves player (11). In fact, only Matt Jarvis (13) and Kevin Doyle (12) have registered more assists in Premier League history for Wolves than Moutinho (11).

Aston Villa's Jed Steer made only his second Premier League appearance (which lasted just eight minutes), 1,631 days after his first in May 2015 (v Burnley) - it's the largest gap between two appearances for a Villa player in the competition's history.

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith is winless in five league meetings with Wolves (D1 L4), since defeating them 3-0 as Brentford manager in a Championship tie in February 2016.

What's next?

Wolves travel to Bournemouth for their next Premier League match on Saturday 23 November (15:00 GMT). Aston Villa resume their Premier League duties at home to Newcastle on Monday 25 November (20:00 GMT).