Dean Smith on 'crazy situation' as Aston Villa lose bizarre match
Dean Smith admitted to wondering what might have been after Villa lost a bizarre match 4-3 at home to Southampton.
Two brilliant James Ward-Prowse free-kicks and goals from Jannik Vestegaard and Danny Ings had the Saints four goals up before the hour mark.
But Villa pulled one back through Tyrone Mings before both Ollie Watkins and Jack Grealish netted in stoppage time to restore some pride for the hosts.
Visiting keeper Alex McCarthy also pulled off a number of second half saves and Smith said: “I think that's the one thing I said to the players, what might have been?
“I was scratching my head at half-time when we were 3-0 down. It wasn’t a 3-0 scoreline, or it didn’t feel like it.
“It was a real scrap in the first half, lots of shouting and whistle blowing. Nobody seemed to get any rhythm.
“Unfortunately they have got a specialist in Ward-Prowse and he has created one from a debatable free-kick and then stuck two in the top corner.”
"They had four shots on target and scored all four. In the second half we found our rhythm and gave them a lot more problems and restricted them getting men around the ball."
Villa, who had won their opening four Premier League matches, have now conceded seven goals in their last two matches with Sunday’s result following a 3-0 loss to Leeds.
But Smith said: "Look at the last two games, I know we have conceded seven goals but we've been far from porous.
“If you look at the goals we conceded today it was three from outside the box and a header from a free-kick.
"As good a header as it was we have to defend it better but we're certainly not porous that's for sure.
"It didn't feel like a hammering, they were just quality finishes. It's a bit of a crazy situation, there have been a lot of strange scorelines already."
