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Premier League | Gameweek 21

Jan 21, 2023 at 3pm UK

St Mary's Stadium

Southampton
0 - 1
Aston Villa

Lyanco (13')

FT(HT: 0-0)

Watkins (77')
Luiz (64'), Moreno (82')

Late Ollie Watkins header sinks struggling Southampton

By Brett Curtis, Reporter | 21 January 2023

Ollie Watkins' towering header hands Aston Villa all three points away to Southampton, who remain bottom of the table after their fourth successive defeat at St Mary's.

Ollie Watkins's towering header has earned Aston Villa all three points away to Southampton this afternoon, with the hosts remaining bottom of the table after suffering their fourth successive defeat at St Mary's Stadium.

The England international, who had toiled away with only three league goals to his name this season ahead of his side's trip to the South Coast, showed there are more strings to his bow by brilliantly meeting Douglas Luiz's textbook free kick.

Referee Michael Salisbury had a tough decision to make in the early stages of the game when Jacob Ramsey went to ground after receiving contact from the outrushing Gavin Bazunu, but Southampton's goalkeeper appeared to get the ball first and was rightly given the benefit of the doubt.

Kyle Walker-Peters, who was making his 100th Premier League appearance, thought he had broken the deadlock when applying a simply finish from close range, but the full-back and Che Adams were both correctly deemed to be offside from the initial cross leading to the disallowed goal.

Despite the Saints having the ball in the net, Villa were undoubtedly the better side across the opening 45 minutes, registering nine shots compared to the hosts' one. Boubacar Kamara perhaps had the visitors' best chance when heading straight at Bazunu from close range.

In truth, perhaps the most interesting incident before half time came when Salisbury was forced to halt the game due to a remote-controlled drone flying above Bazunu's goal, with both players taken off the pitch in a delay which lasted more than 10 minutes.

Nathan Jones made a triple substitution shortly after the break, with James Ward-Prowse - who has been playing in a more offensive midfield role in recent weeks - appearing to break the deadlock for the hosts once again when his effort deflected off Ezri Konsa to deceive a helpless Emiliano Martinez.

However, after a lengthy VAR review, Saints had another goal chalked off due to Mohamed Elyounoussi controversially being adjudged to have fouled Jacob Ramsey in the build-up.

To rub salt into the hosts' wounds, Watkins's decisive header came only a few minutes later, with Martinez superbly denying Moussa Djenepo in injury time as Jones's side pushed hard for an equaliser to no avail.

For Villa, a third win in five games leaves them only one point behind Liverpool, Brentford and Chelsea in the top half, but Southampton's recent run of victories comes to an end ahead of a potentially long battle against relegation ahead for Jones and his players.