Aston Villa ended a two-game losing run at the Molineux Stadium on Saturday lunch-time kick-off when they beat Wolves thanks to a stoppage-time penalty by El Ghazi.
The visitors who were reduced to ten men in the 85th minute following a red card to Douglas Luiz held on to snatch a late winner against Wolves who also had Joao Moutinho sent off at the last minute of the game.
Nuno Espirito Santo started with the 4-2-3-1 formation that gave his side an impressive win over Arsenal a fortnight ago, with Fabio Silva leading the line in his first Premier League start because of the absence of the injured Raul Jimenez.
Villa on their part made two changes to the starting XI with Jacob Ramsey making his first Premier League start, replacing Conor Hourihane who could only start on the bench.
The home team started the better of the two sides, carving out the games’ first opening in the 12th minute when Pedro Neto sent a cut-back for Podence in the box only for Martinez to put his body on the line and claim before the forward.
The Argentine was called into action in the 38th minute to make a fine one-handed stop from a Daniel Podence shot. That proved to be the last goalmouth action of the first half as both teams went into the break all square.
The second half continued in the same way the first ended, with both teams searching for the clinical edge in the final third. Villa had the better chances of ending the stalemate in the 66th minute, but Patricio was able to save a firm strike from Watkins.
Wolves had their own opportunity three minutes later but were denied by the woodwork from a Silva shot. The home team continued to press for their goal late but again were denied by a brilliant save from Martinez in the 80th minute.
With Martinez proving difficult to beat, the hosts thought they had found an advantage when in the 85th minute Douglas Luiz received his second yellow card of the game for an elbow on Daniel Podence.
However, Wolves could not make their numerical advantage count with the visitors snatching all three points after they were awarded a penalty in the second minute of added time which El Ghazi converted.
There was time for more drama in the 97th minute when Joao Moutinho was giving his second yellow card of the game after a bad tackle on Jacob Ramsey.
The win took Aston Villa to eight-place in the table while Wolves remained in mid-table.
The hosts are next in action at home to Chelsea in the Premier League on Tuesday, while Villa face Burnley at Villa Park next Thursday.
