Southampton 0 Aston Villa 1 - Report

Ross Barkley’s third goal of the season proved enough to earn Dean Smith’s victory at the St Mary’s Stadium.

But they were indebted to goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez who brilliantly denied Che Adams and Jan Bednarek in the second half.

Danny Ings then saw a stoppage time equaliser ruled out by the narrowest of margins as Villa clung on.

Ings was initially flagged offside when putting home the rebound after Martinez had saved from Nathan Redmond but a VAR check showed the decision to be correct by mere millimetres.

It was the second time the hosts had cause to take umbrage with the officiating after video assistant Mike Dean chose not to award a penalty when Matty Cash handled Stuart Armstrong’s goalbound shot early in the first-half.

Villa took the lead with in the 41st minute from what was one of their first attacks of the match.

After then things got scrappy but they held on for a valuable win which will boost confidence after the disappointing manner of Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat at Burnley.

Their performance here was nowhere near as fluent but contained the grit and character they had perhaps lacked at Turf Moor.

Controversy came early as Villa were fortunate not to concede an early penalty when Ings showed good skill to beat Matt Targett and find Armstrong, whose goalbound shot appeared to be blocked by the arm of Matty Cash.

While on-field referee Lee Mason gave nothing, video assistant Dean spent a long time reviewing the footage before deciding not to award a spot-kick due to a deflection off the thigh of the defender.

Still, it was Southampton on top, Oriel Romeu hammering a shot wide at the end of a sequence which saw Ryan Bertrand send the ball across the face of Villa’s goal.

Visiting keeper Martinez was then forced to save smartly at his near post from Armstrong, before Cash was in the right place to clear a dangerous James Ward-Prowse cross from in front of Ings.

It was difficult to remember the last occasion where Villa had shown so little in attack but in the final 10 minutes of the half they suddenly came alive.

First, Ollie Watkins brought a smart save from Saints keeper Alex McCarthy with a shot which looked destined for the bottom corner after excellent work by Matt Targett and Grealish.

Then, four minutes before the break, Villa took the lead. From a throw-in the ball was worked from the right to the left flank and Targett, who lobbed a through pass into the path of Grealish, the latter delivering a first-time cross for Barkley to head beyond McCarthy and into the bottom corner.

The Saints keeper was called into action again soon after to save from Watkins as Villa finished the half well on top.

Villa were left breathing a sigh of relief early in the second half when Ward-Prowse, who scored two superb free-kicks in the first meeting between the clubs, hit the wall with an effort from the edge of the box after Barkley had conceded an unnecessary foul.

Southampton were forced into changes when both Ibrahima Diallo and Theo Walcott were forced off through injury in quick succession.

It was one of the replacements, Che Adams, who had a glorious chance to level the scores 20 minutes from time. But after being played through by Ings, he found Martinez equal to the shot, with Cash scrambling the loose ball away.

Armstrong then shot wide for the hosts and while Villa were never under the cosh, neither did it feel like they quite had full control on proceedings.

A flurry of chances then arrived for the hosts in the final 10 minutes. Redmond saw a shot deflected over and from the corner, Martinez denied Jan Bednarek before both John McGinn and Cash blocked from Adams.

Ings then thought he had levelled in the third minute of stoppage time only for the flag and VAR to rescue Villa.

Teams

Southampton (4-4-2): McCarthy, Ward-Prowse, Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand, Armstrong, Romeu (Jankewitz 89), Diallo (Djenepo 59), Redmond, Walcott (Adams 64), Ings Subs not used: Long, Valery, Ramsay, N’Lundulu, Watts, Forster (gk).

Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Luiz, Traore, Barkley (Nakamba 90+6), Grealish, Watkins Subs not used: Engels, Elmohamady, Taylor, Sanson, El Ghazi, Trezeguet, Davis, Heaton (gk).