Aston Villa’s Premier League mini-wobble is over.

Having taken one point from their two games prior to the international break, Unai Emery’s side were back on song against Wolverhampton Wanderers, a 2-0 win keeping Tottenham at bay for another weekend in the battle to finish in the top four.

Moussa Diaby and Ezri Konsa’s goals in each half proved enough – but what were the main talking points?

Why are Villa so good at defending leads?

Villa’s resolve has been tested throughout the season, with the fixture pile-up, injuries and opposing teams starting to devise plans to exploit their vulnerabilities.

Impressively, though, Villa remain the best for holding onto leads in the Premier League this season, dropping only three points from winning positions.

Considering the 2-0 victory against Wolves was just Villa’s seventh clean sheet, they have managed to establish and maintain dominance in games when they go ahead. The overall performance underlined the importance of this wrinkle, with Villa cagey and sloppy in parts, particularly until Konsa’s goal in the 65th minute.

Villa’s propensity to grind out wins and points when they only find sporadic rhythm continues to be integral in their quest for a Champions League spot. Much of that has to do with the constant brilliance of Emiliano Martinez, who produced a key, sprawling save from Rayan Ait-Nouri with the scoreline goalless. Martinez’s leadership has been increasingly influential due to the unavailability of captain John McGinn and the former incumbent, Tyrone Mings.

As it happened, once they had weathered the best a depleted Wolves side had, Villa’s quality told towards the end. They gained a five per cent increase in possession, retaining the ball for longer periods which, in turn, forced Wolves deeper.

Holding onto leads is all the more admirable given the absence of the team’s general spine – Tyrone Mings, Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn and in the second half here, Ollie Watkins.

The 2-0 victory was efficient, typical of every vintage Emery side that last the course of a campaign.

Can Diaby build on his goal?

If you want to romanticise things, Diaby’s opening strike felt like a catharsis, releasing months of frustration.

It was Diaby’s first Premier League goal since December 30 and his fifth of the season, a sign of how early calls anointing him as the signing of the season had fallen a little flat.

Moussa Diaby slams in the opening goal (Lee Parker – CameraSport via Getty Images)

It was only the fifth time he and Leon Bailey – another signing from Bayer Leverkusen, and who could be an inspiration for Diaby after his own slow start at Villa – had started in the league together.

The idea was that Villa wanted to overload Wolves’ left side with darting runs behind and inside defenders. Diaby showed flashes of his old self throughout, setting up Watkins in the build-up for Douglas Luiz’s disallowed goal and having to take greater responsibility after the break after Watkins had to go off. Diaby seized it, teeing up Konsa for his miscued lob over Jose Sa which made it 2-0.

Diaby’s goal was Villa’s eighth outside of the box this season, the third most of any Premier League side. That, in itself, was fortunate given they only had two touches in the box during the first half.

Diaby was one of the players who was occasionally guilty of running into a swathe of bodies but his contribution was crucial, and the type of moment Villa anticipated from their summer marquee signing.

When will Moreno rediscover his spark?

Unai Emery’s celebration (or lack of) after Diaby put Villa ahead was an indication of his mounting frustration.

For most of the first half, Villa were passive, stifled by Wolves’ wing-back system that always gave them an outlet and therefore the majority of possession, and an absence of quality in attacking areas.

Villa’s lopsided build-up shape, with one full-back tucking in (Ezri Konsa, No 4, hidden beneath No 31, Leon Bailey in the graphic below) and the other (Alex Moreno, No 15) staying high, essentially serving as a left winger) meant the latter was critical to Emery’s plan. Here, though, Moreno toiled, delivering a number of overhit, inaccurate crosses and a general looseness in his play.

Tensions threatened to boil on the half-hour after Moreno’s cross, from near the byline, ballooned over every claret and blue shirt. Boos could be clearly heard, exacerbated by his deputy Lucas Digne coming out to warm up.

After a swift adaptation to the Premier League last season, Moreno has been a shadow of himself this term. Much of that is to do with the hamstring injury he suffered in May at Liverpool, which kept him out for around six months.

It has impacted his fast twitch acceleration and left him unable to fulfil the role of left winger that Emery wants from his full-back – a chief reason why he his picked ahead of a more conservative Digne.

In the first half, he was near Watkins (11) as the highest Villa player in average positioning but could not provide the telling quality and, defensively, was caught out by the overlapping runs of Nelson Semedo.

The second half did not start any better, as his clumsy foul on Joao Gomes gave Wolves a free kick in a dangerous area, and he was eventually replaced by Digne.

What did Emery say?

We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.

What next for Villa?

Wednesday, April 3: Manchester City (A), Premier League, 8.15pm BST, 3.15pm ET

Villa go for the home and away double over last season’s treble winners and reigning world champions following December’s 1-0 home win but it’s a big ask — they have lost 13 league games in a row at the Etihad Stadium by an aggregate score of 41-7.

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(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)/Getty Images)