After a gritty win against Leeds last time out, Villa travelled to the south coast to take on a rejuvenated Southampton side.
BUILD-UP
The Saints were coming off the back of three wins in a row in three different competitions and were looking to secure back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time all season.
Going into the game Villa will have felt buoyed by the fact that, despite a recent upturn in fortunes, the south coast side were without a league win at St. Mary’s since August, whilst Unai Emery had masterminded four wins from his first six in charge.
Team selection would have been relatively straightforward for Nathan Jones and Unai Emery after important victories last week. Both made one change, with Adam Armstrong in for Moi Elyounoussi for the Saints, whilst Lucas Digne was injured for Villa. Álex Moreno made his first start for the club in place of the French full-back.
Jones had recently switched from his trusty five-at-the-back formation. This was a big call as that set-up had served him so well at Luton but had failed to deliver results at the start of his Southampton tenure, as his side lost each of his first four league matches in charge. The new 4-2-3-1 which he had deployed of late had shown plenty of improvements, not least the creative freedom afforded to the talismanic James Ward-Prowse, whilst also getting the best out of defensive pair Lyanco and Duje Caleta-Car.
With the growing injury list and the surprise sale of Danny Ings, along with the fact that Jan Bednarek was ineligible to face his parent club, Villa were forced to name a depleted bench containing two goalkeepers and several youngsters.
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FIRST HALF
It was the youngest player in the Villa starting XI who provided the threat early on. A burst through the middle from Ramsey was only halted by the alert Gavin Bazunu. The Saints keeper rushed out and got the slightest of touches on the ball to thwart his opponent.
The away side, in their black and yellow third kit, began to dominate possession as Jacob Ramsey stamped his authority all over the game with his driving runs and ability to find space between the lines. It was Southampton, however, who offered the next big moment in the match.
It was the Brazilian Lyanco, thriving in his new right back role, who whipped in a dangerous cross. Former Blues forward Che Adams scuffed an effort goal bound and Kyle Walker-Peters tapped the ball over the line. Both players were offside in the first phase of play and Walker-Peters was off in the second phase and the flag was raised.
The let-off kicked Villa, and the lively Ramsey, back into gear. A flowing move involving Watkins, Buendía and Bailey culminated in Bazunu saving well to deny Ramsey. Bailey blasted the rebound over. Emery’s side will then have felt aggrieved not to receive a penalty, as Ramsey once more proved a thorn in the side of his hosts. As the midfielder received the ball in the box, he rolled Salisu. The Ghanaian defender came hurtling through the back of the Villa man, but no penalty was awarded.
As the game moved towards half-time, it was the away side who dominated the possession and strung some delightful passing moves together although, as has so often been the case this season, the final bit of end product evaded them.
With Douglas Luiz stood over a free kick in a good area and Austin MacPhee prowling the technical area, the referee Michael Salisbury sought counsel with the two skippers before taking both sides off the field. A drone had appeared over the Chapel Stand and, for the safety of the players and officials, the decision was made to suspend the match until the culprit had been identified.
After a short delay, the players returned to the field to play out the final few minutes of the half. Around 10 minutes after it was meant to be taken, Villa produced one of the worst free-kick routines in recent memory and the half fizzled out with the sides locked together at 0-0.
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SECOND HALF
The side from Hampshire came out after the break with more vigour and intent, although they survived a scare within seconds of the restart. Villa swarmed all over their opponents and Bailey should have done better in the area, but his effort was straight down the throat of Bazunu.
Saints’ improvement was driven by the tireless Walker-Peters and the classy Ward-Prowse. The overlaps and underlaps of that pair on the right hand side created the first clear chance of the game for Adam Armstrong. The man who rifled his side to victory in the same fixture last year caught his strike cleanly, but he was denied by the legs of Martínez.
With Adams and Armstrong struggling for goals this season, once more it was Ward-Prowse who took matters into his own hands. A jinking run and lofted cross from Walker-Peters created a frenzy in the penalty area. The ball fell to the Saints captain and he lashed an effort goalwards. With the aid of Ezri Konsa’s boot, the ball looped agonisingly over the outstretched hand of Martínez and into the net.
After a long VAR check, Salisbury was made aware of a rake of the studs from Elyounoussi on the achilles of Ramsey in amongst all the bedlam. The goal was correctly ruled out, and Villa had received a real let-off after a spell of superb Saints penetration.
Villa were sparked into life and Coutinho was summoned from the bench. The Brazilian, who has found form and fitness hard to come by of late, looked lively whilst his compatriot Luiz and the composed figure of Kamara began to grow in influence.
It was the French international who was clumsily felled by Mara outside the box after a throw on the right. For all the talk pre-match of the set-piece prowess of Ward-Prowse, it was Luiz who put in the first delivery of real quality in this match. Ollie Watkins was free to guide a header back across goal to finally break the deadlock for Emery’s side. It was the fifth goal involvement in eight appearances since the new head coach arrived.
Game management has long been an issue for Villa, but under Emery the last ten minutes of games have been less nervy than had been the case for his predecessors. The side from B6 had seen out victories over Manchester United, Brighton and Spurs with real intelligence and discipline, and they once again showed their mettle to keep their desperate opponents at arms length for the majority of the final ten minutes. The Saints gave it everything and did manufacture one final effort on goal as sub Moussa Djenepo struck from the corner of the box. The world class shot-stopper Martínez produced a typically acrobatic save to seal the hard-fought three points and spark scenes of jubilation in the away end.
POST MATCH
After 14 long games since Wesley and Grealish punished a bullish Burnley side, Villa had finally won another match in their third strip, just two months after also breaking the ‘United Curse’ at Villa Park.
The man from Gipuzkoa, Basque Country has now won five out of his seven Premier League matches in charge of Villa at a mighty win rate of 71.4%. His side have also now added three wins on the bounce from his three away matches in the league, having lost five and drawn two in the previous seven this season.
Whilst it was yet another gritty team performance, the herculean Emi Martínez, the elegant Jacob Ramsey and the omnipresent Boubacar Kamara were the standout performers.
A special mention should go to Ashley Young too, who seems to combine his protein shakes with a drop of the elixir of life, as he continues to defy age and logic as he steps up to the varying challenges offered by the modern winger week after week. It is no mean feat to be keeping World Cup star Matty Cash on the bench, let alone at the age of 37.
And in Mings and Konsa, who have been close to faultless since the change of manager, Villa have arguably found their best top division defensive pair since Laursen and Mellberg. The pair are not at the level of the Scandinavian stalwarts, but they have played 102 games and been involved in 29 clean sheets together. That’s a clean sheet in 28.4% of the games they have featured together, which is impressive considering the regular managerial and tactical changes that have been made in recent seasons. This stacks up well against Mellberg and Laursen (29.9%) and Dunne and Collins (25.8%). It will be intriguing to see what Emery does with his backline once the dominant Diego Carlos is back in contention.
The next match is now two weeks away, at home to Leicester, giving Emery and Lange plenty of time to focus on getting their key transfer targets over the line. The break also gives the likes of McGinn, Carlos and Digne to work their way back towards full fitness.
With Danny Ings out the door, it will be interesting to see if another forward arrives, with Moussa Dembélé and Gerard Deulofeu linked, whilst rumours are accelerating with relation to the energetic midfield star Matteo Guendouzi, who impressed Emery in their time together at Arsenal.
It will certainly be an interesting couple of weeks, and Villa fans will be able to scroll through transfer rumours on Twitter and tune in to the UTV Podcast with a greater sense of relaxation after another important away win.
AUTHOR | JOEY MILLINGTON
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