MY ACCOUNT
Aston Villa kept their first clean sheet of the season as they secured a 1-0 win at home to Southampton.
In fact, neither side had kept a clean sheet this season which suggested there might be goals, but this game was far from a feast of attacking football.
After a fairly mundane start, Villa eventually livened up proceedings by taking the lead a few minutes before halftime.
Gavin Bazunu did brilliantly to tip an Ollie Watkins header onto the bar, but Jacob Ramsey was first to the rebound and lashed home a finish.
In a poor first half, Philippe Coutinho showed his quality and tried to force the issue for Villa in attack, and it was his cross that led to Watkins’ initial header.
In the second half, the game returned to its early lull, and though it was not the most entertaining of spectacles, Villa will nevertheless be pleased with the three points.
“It’s a big victory. It wasn’t pretty or stylish but, with where we were in the league, we knew we had to do it in a pragmatic way,” Villa boss Steven Gerrard told BBC Sport.
“I’m really proud of the boys’ effort, application and commitment. We played better than we did last time. In football, you have to grind and fight and be committed and we worked hard today.
“We will get better in terms of style and possession and that will come but tonight was about the points.”
Did you know?
Aston Villa have won three of their last four Premier League matches against Southampton (L1), having won just one of their previous 11 against the Saints (W1 D3 L7).
Only Everton and Watford (15 each) have lost more Premier League matches in 2022 than Southampton (14).
Southampton have conceded in their last 13 Premier League matches, the longest run of any current side. The Saints have now kept just three clean sheets in their last 34 matches in the competition.
Southampton have won none of their last 104 away Premier League matches when trailing at half-time (D18 L86) since a 4-2 win at Chelsea on New Year’s Day in 2002.
Since the start of last season, only Ollie Watkins (12) and Danny Ings (8) have more Premier League goals for Aston Villa than Jacob Ramsey (7).
Ashley Young became the second oldest outfield player to start for Aston Villa in the Premier League (37 years, 69 days) behind only Robert Pires in February 2011 against Blackburn Rovers (37 years, 120 days).
Juan Larios was the ninth teenager given their Premier League debut by Ralph Hasenhuttl (also Kayne Ramsey, Callum Slattery, Caleb Watts, Alexandre Jankewitz, Allan Tchaptchet, Tino Livramento, Romeo Lavia, and Samuel Edozie). Since his first game in December 2018, only Man Utd have handed more teenagers their Premier League debut (10) than Southampton (9).
