Match Stats

Breathe – Villa Reinvent The Theory Of Winning Ugly With Incredible Final 20 Minutes – Match Stats

|

A cold and windy Saturday evening saw Aston Villa head down south to St Mary’s Stadium to face off against an impressive Southampton side.

We were on the wrong end of that Saints side last time we met, but there was more than just revenge in the air tonight, there were also some lagging questions about how we still managed to lose to Burnley in the last one.

We might also get to see Morgan Sanson for the first time, as our most recent capture was named on the bench.

It was quite an end to end start and both sides looked pretty lively but the first bone of contention was a long winded VAR review for a possible handball by Matty Cash – and surprisingly it wasn’t given. After everything we’ve seen this year from VAR, I wouldn’t have quibbled at that one – I think I’m in shock.

There’s no denying this was poor from us though and Southampton were clearly on top – the only positive I could see is it again showed how much we’ve improved at the back as it wasn’t that long ago we’d have been well behind by the 40th minute.

But Villa are Villa, and a great little header from an otherwise anonymous Ross Barkley gave us the lead with four minutes remaining in the half. Despite their dominance, our goal was the first shot on target apparently and we ended the half with three whilst Emi was untested.

Second half we were mostly comfortable but didn’t really threaten to extend our lead and in the final 20 odd minutes we got Southampton’s onslaught and how we didn’t concede is a minor miracle in my mind.

That has got to be the longest 10 minutes of my life and serious questions will be asked when it came to why we kept attacking and didn’t manage the game by hitting and holding the corners, and moreso, despite players struggling and being out on their legs, not a single change was made by Dean Smith. Not even staggered substitutes to break up their momentum and give everyone a small breather.

The attack ethos is great, I applaud it, but not when inviting result suicide and I haven’t personally been that uncomfortable in watching in a hell of a long time.

And the inevitable stoppage time goal came so we had more adventures with VAR. Again it bizarrely favoured us, and despite it being another fantastic save from Emi Martinez…I’m sorry…but Danny Ings was not offside and Southampton fans will now be feeling what we’ve felt many times since this idiotic technology (sic) has been introduced.

We then finally make a substitute.

I won’t overly complain as it’s about time we had some luck, but how Southampton didn’t win that or at least take a point is going to confuse me for the rest of my life.

The game shows so many positives and so many improvements, but it also highlights how far we need to go, and that includes game management from both the players and the manager. The end of that did not need to be heart attack inducing.

With that said, winning ugly is an art and I think we’ve just reinvented it.

Now Breathe…

Southampton MotM

Emi Martinez

Emi Martinez

Matty Cash

Matty Cash

Tyrone Mings

Matt Targett

1 of 12

In the Old Trafford clash with Manchester United back in the inaugural Prem campaign, Steve Staunton opened the scoring – but how?

Previous Article:

Villa Right To Feel Cheated As City Get More Than A Gift – Match Stats

Southampton
0 – 1
Aston Villa

St Mary's Stadium

Premier League

30/01/2021 8:00 pm

Attendance: 0

Referee: Lee Mason

Southampton Aston Villa
Barkley (41)
McCarthy Martinez
Diallo 59 Cash
Bednarek Konsa
Stephens Mings
Bertrand Targett
Redmond Traore
Romeu 89 Douglas Luiz
Ward-Prowse
 
Barkley 90+6
Armstrong McGinn
Walcott 65 Grealish
Ings Watkins

Substitutes

Long Heaton
Adams 65 Tayor
Djenepo 59 Trezeguet
Valery Nakamba 90+6
Ramsey El Ghazi
N'Lundulu Engels
Forster Sanson
Jankewitz 89 Elmohamady
Watts Davis

Game Statistics

20 Goal attempts 8
5 On Target 4
7 Corners 1
12 Fouls 11
1 Yellow Cards 0
0 Red Cards 0
60 % 40

Share this article

0 comments

  • Andy5759 says:

    We’ve been on the wrong end of a few inexplicable decisions so I can honestly say that I feel for Southampton fans. We nicked that one. They were the better side throughout. Still, we’ll take the three points and go home happy. We’re in the top half grinding out results, what a difference a year makes.

Comments are closed.