Wolves 2 Villa 3 - Villa analysis

The golden boy with the golden touch – good job he plays for the claret and blues.

When Keane swapped the beaches of LA for a bleak mid-winter break in Birmingham there were more than a few doubters wondering exactly why Alex McLeish had spent £500,000 in wages and loan fees on a player who had spent the past few months in a league seen as football's equivalent to a retirement home.

'Keane's too old. His legs have gone. His heart's not in it. The lad is a spent force' seemed to be the consensus of the views among Villa's opinion makers.

Two wonder goals later and the phone-ins, social networks and message boards were buzzing with talk of the 31-year-old striker's Midlands derby performance and McLeish was being grilled on the possibility of signing Keane permanently.

The player himself bristled at questions over whether he "still had something to prove in the Premier League" having joined the MLS and challenged reporters to check out his record (163 in 359 starts in the league since you asked Robbie).

And from the moment his name appeared on the Villa team sheet there was sense of inevitability that he would find the net on his old stamping ground, especially given the fact he scored on his full debuts for Wolves, Coventry, West Ham and parent club LA Galaxy.

The Republic striker's first goal had an element of fortune about it as Matt Jarvis' high clearance from left-back held up in the swirling wind and fell to Ciaran Clark who calmly cushioned his header to Keane.

He cleverly opened up space for a shot by fooling Roger Johnson with a drop of the shoulder.

Keane's finish from the edge of the box on the turn was clinical and, although Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey should have done better with a crisp low shot, it was still a strike of real quality.

Luck might have played a part in Keane's first goal but the second of his brace five minute from the end of the 90 was pure class.

The ball dropped to Keane 25 yards out after Alan Hutton's cross had been headed clear by Johnson.

Keane controlled a difficult looping ball with his left foot and shifted it to his right before striking a fierce shot from distance which beat Hennessey and crashed into the net off the underside of the crossbar.

Molineux will always hold a special place in the heart of Keane but the fact he didn't celebrate either of his two strikes against the club where he began his professional career was the only concession he granted to Wolves, save for the odd autograph afterwards.

It was only the second time Keane had been back to Wolves for a Premier League game in the 13 years since he left Molineux for Coventry, having come so close to joining John Gregory's Villa.

And on both occasions he has done the damage, having scored one of two goals for Tottenham on the last day of the season which saw Wolves relegated to the Championship in 2004.

Keane's winner gave McLeish the perfect present as he celebrated his 53rd birthday, although the Villa manager probably breathed a sigh of relief given his side's largely abject performance in the first half.

Darren Bent had given Villa an early lead from the penalty spot after he had nipped in front of Christophe Berra and was fouled by the Wolves man who chopped him down attempting to clear the ball.

But following their 11th-minute opener Villa were poor.

Having gone ahead, Villa gave the ball away frequently, seemed incredibly nervous in possession and were lucky to not to be more than a goal down after Wolves battered their goal in what was a pulsating first period.

Mick McCarthy's men were denied what appeared an obvious penalty when James Collins clipped the lively Dave Edwards inside the area but it was not long before the hosts made their dominance count after Emmanuel Frimpong's brilliant piece of skill set up Michael Kightly to equalise.

Wolves had three chances to take the lead as Given saved Steven Fletcher's header from a corner and Marc Albrighton cleared Karl Henry's shot off the line before Edwards shot straight at Given from a good position after he was picked out by Jarvis.

The home side's pressure paid off in the 31st minute when Kightly's corner was met by Johnson and his goal-bound header was deftly flicked past Given by Edwards.

Having not lost at Molineux since May 1978, Villa seemed content to hold on to a point after Keane equalised six minutes after half-time.

But the claret and blues benefitted from the extra man advantage following Henry's sending off 15 minutes from time and Keane was able to complete a fairytale ending in spectacular fashion.

By Timothy Abraham