Ross Barkley headed the winner as Aston Villa reignited their European hopes with victory over Southampton in the Premier League in an entertaining tussle at St Mary’s.
The midfielder guided Jack Grealish’s cross beyond goalkeeper Alex McCarthy before the break as Villa bounced back from defeat at Burnley.
Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez produced a great save to deny Che Adams with 20 minutes remaining, while Matty Cash cleared off the line late on as Southampton failed to make their pressure count.
Danny Ings then had the ball in the net in added time but the striker was flagged offside.
Saints were earlier denied a penalty when Stuart Armstrong’s effort struck Cash on the arm but was deemed to have deflected off the defender’s thigh.
Victory sees Dean Smith’s side climb to eighth, but with a game in hand on many of those above them.
Southampton, who have now lost three league games in a row, remain 11th.
Grealish and Martinez inspire Villa
For all Villa’s entertaining attacking football this season, this was a victory in which the visitors had to dig in and, at times, ride their luck.
Smith’s side had already surpassed their best points tally at the halfway stage of a Premier League campaign since 2009-10, when they finished sixth, and have now won more games in the competition in half a season than they did in the whole of the last one.
It needed the creative spark of talismanic captain Grealish and the reactions of goalkeeper Martinez to earn three points that move them back within touching distance of a European spot.
Grealish’s hooked cross for Barkley’s headed winner was his ninth assist in the league this season, with only Tottenham’s Harry Kane (11) and Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne (10) having made more.
Villa’s failure to kill off the game at Turf Moor in midweek cost them against Burnley, but this time the visitors’ goalkeeper kept them in the fixture.
Martinez has been superb since arriving from Arsenal and kept his 10th clean sheet of the season thanks to a number of fine stops.
He denied Adams from close range and then pulled off a double save following a Southampton corner late on which Cash eventually cleared off the line.
The Argentine was finally beaten by Ings in added time but the Southampton striker was narrowly offside.
More to follow.
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Southampton
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Squad number10Player nameAdams
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Squad number12Player nameDjenepo
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Squad number64Player nameJankewitz
Aston Villa
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Squad number26Player nameMartÃnez
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Squad number2Player nameCash
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Squad number4Player nameKonsa
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Squad number5Player nameMings
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Squad number18Player nameTargett
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Squad number6Player nameDouglas Luiz
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Squad number7Player nameMcGinn
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Squad number15Player nameTraoré
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Squad number20Player nameBarkley
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Squad number10Player nameGrealish
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Squad number11Player nameWatkins
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Squad number19Player nameNakamba
Line-ups
Southampton
Formation 4-4-2
- 1McCarthy
- 8Ward-ProwseBooked at 53mins
- 35Bednarek
- 5Stephens
- 3Bertrand
- 32WalcottSubstituted forAdamsat 65′minutes
- 6RomeuSubstituted forJankewitzat 89′minutes
- 27DialloSubstituted forDjenepoat 59′minutes
- 17Armstrong
- 9Ings
- 11Redmond
Substitutes
- 7Long
- 10Adams
- 12Djenepo
- 18Valery
- 31Ramsay
- 40N’Lundulu
- 44Forster
- 64Jankewitz
- 65Watts
Aston Villa
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 26MartÃnez
- 2Cash
- 4Konsa
- 5Mings
- 18Targett
- 6Douglas Luiz
- 7McGinn
- 15Traoré
- 20BarkleySubstituted forNakambaat 90+6′minutes
- 10Grealish
- 11Watkins
Substitutes
- 1Heaton
- 3Taylor
- 17Trézéguet
- 19Nakamba
- 21El Ghazi
- 22Engels
- 25Sanson
- 27El Mohamady
- 39Davis
Live Text
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Match ends, Southampton 0, Aston Villa 1.
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Second Half ends, Southampton 0, Aston Villa 1.
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Substitution, Aston Villa. Marvelous Nakamba replaces Ross Barkley.
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VAR Decision: No Goal Southampton 0-1 Aston Villa.
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Offside, Southampton. Ryan Bertrand tries a through ball, but Danny Ings is caught offside.
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Attempt saved. Ryan Bertrand (Southampton) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Che Adams.
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Attempt missed. Moussa Djenepo (Southampton) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is too high.
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Alexandre Jankewitz (Southampton) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
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Attempt missed. Ross Barkley (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the left side of the box is too high. Assisted by Bertrand Traoré following a set piece situation.
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Substitution, Southampton. Alexandre Jankewitz replaces Oriol Romeu.
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Foul by Moussa Djenepo (Southampton).
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Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Moussa Djenepo (Southampton) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Ross Barkley (Aston Villa).
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Foul by Moussa Djenepo (Southampton).
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Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Attempt blocked. Jack Stephens (Southampton) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
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Attempt blocked. Che Adams (Southampton) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is blocked.
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Attempt saved. Jan Bednarek (Southampton) header from the left side of the six yard box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by James Ward-Prowse with a cross.
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