Lots of Aston Villa fans have slammed Dean Smith for his 'dreadful' defensive tactics against Wolverhampton Wanderers which allowed Ruben Neves to open the scoring on Sunday.

Neves struck Wolves' go-ahead goal in the 41st-minute with a wonderful finish from the edge of the box, as the Portuguese midfielder was gifted yards of space to wait for Joao Moutinho's short free-kick.

With no Villa player near him, Neves guided the ball into the centre of the net with his first touch, and watched as it sailed over a crowded penalty area and past Orjan Nyland after the Norwegian had to replace Jed Steer following an Achilles injury.

Villans supporters were left mightily frustrated by Neves being gifted so much space on the edge of the box, as the 22-year-old has proven himself to be an expert at scoring from range since moving to Molineux in 2017.

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Each of Neves' six goals in the Championship during the 2017/18 campaign came from outside the area, including a thunderous volley against Derby County when he found the top corner despite backtracking as he struck the ball.

The 14-cap Portugal international also scored two of his four Premier League goals last season from outside of the penalty area, and opened his account for the campaign this term from range when he fired home against Manchester United in August.

Here are some of the messages shared after Villa fell behind at Molineux to a long-range strike by Neves…