Southampton hold on to 1-0 victory over Aston Villa in EPL

Adam Armstrong opened with a stunner inside the first two minutes at St Mary’s but Villa, after a first period of total domination, flipped the game on its head to entrench the Saints side for much of the second-half.

Ralph Hasenhuttl named one change to his side that were victorious at Watford, with Stuart Armstrong making his first start of the season replacing an absent Nathan Redmond.

It was a shock-reveal under an hour before kick-off that the Saints attacker had received a positive Covid-19 test, putting him out of action. The boss confirmed that he is well, though.

And the big talking point leading up to the game was the return of Danny Ings that never came. The former Saints striker was ruled out with a hamstring injury and played no part at his former stomping ground, England international Ollie Watkins in his place.

Following a light and pyro show which got the St Mary’s crowd going and a moment of remembrance to honour the fallen who have given us the freedoms we so richly enjoy, Villa’s misery of four consecutive defeats continued at pace.

A Armstrong struck his first goal since the opening day with a thunderous effort from the edge of the area inside the first two minutes of the contest, after a James Ward-Prowse ball had found its way via Che Adams.

Stuart Armstrong should have doubled the lead before the 10th minute as Villa continued to be cut open with no resistance whatsoever, skewing a close-range half-volley over from a corner after he was left completely unmarked at the back-post.

But it was when Oriol Romeu gave the first stray ball away inside the Saints half some minutes later that the intensity of the performance really showed. Immediately he, Ward-Prowse, Jan Bednarek and Tino Livramento encircled the attack to stamp it out.

The performance was so dominant that Villa’s players were handed a sheet of new tactics, from manager Dean Smith, just before the half-hour mark. It looked to work as Anwar El Ghazi, who was booked for a tug on Livramento, had a golden chance inside the area but blazed over.

He then should have seen red following what looked like a blatant dive inside the area, going under with nobody anywhere near him.

But El Ghazi remained on the pitch even after the half-time break, with neither manager opting for changes, and was instrumental in turning around Villa’s performance.

The visiting side were suddenly pouring forward and had each of the half’s first four attacks, with Alex McCarthy turning over his long-shot before a succession of nervy corners were cleared.

Hasennhuttl had to react and did, bringing Lyanco on for S Armstrong before the hour and switching to a more solid five-at-the-back system.

It served the purpose of halting the advancing Villa machine, but limited Saints to only half-chances themselves. A header from a Ward-Prowse free-kick was well saved before a smart corner exchange between he and A Armstrong could have resulted in a chance but for a now well organised Villa defence.

It was already the 81st minute when goalscorer Armstrong made his way off the pitch for Armando Broja, getting a round of applause and big cheer respectively, and neither side were any closer to the second.

Jan Bednarek got away with letting Cameron Archer run in behind and smashing the clearance straight at him only to be luckily cleared elsewhere, as Saints survived no fewer than seven minutes of added time.

Saints: McCarthy; Livramento, Bednarek, Salisu, Walker-Peters; Romeu, Ward-Prowse, S Armstrong (Lyanco, 57), Elyounoussi (Diallo, 76); Adams, A Armstrong (Broja, 81)

Unused subs: Perraud, Walcott, Tella, Djenepo, Long, Forster (g/k)

Booked: Romeu, Salisu

Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Tuanzebe, Mings, Targett, Nakamba (J Ramsey, 62), McGinn, El Ghazi (Davis, 78), Buendia (Archer, 70), Bailey, Watkins

Unused subs: Young, Hause, Philogene-Bidace, Chukwuemeka, A Ramsey

Booked: El Ghazi, Tuanzebe