Armstrong piles on the agony for Smith
Villa suffer fifth straight defeat
ADAM ARMSTRONG came up with a Bonfire Night rocket to end his nine-match goal drought as Aston Villa’s hopes of a first win in six games went up in smoke.
Armstrong’s superb early strike repaid Ralph Hasenhuttl for keeping faith with his misfiring front man.
Villa arrived in the midst of their joint-worst losing run of Dean Smith’s three-year tenure.
Despite that dismal record of four straight defeats, former Holt Ender Smith, right, was serenaded with chants of ‘Deano, Deano, Deano’ from the away end before kick-off.
Those travelling Villa fans were stunned into silence when Armstrong blasted Saints into the lead with only three minutes on the clock.
Defensive mishaps have been a feature of Villa’s dramatic slide down the table and Matty Cash was at it again, misjudging the flight of James WardProwse’s hopeful punt from the halfway line.
There was still plenty for Armstrong to do when the ball fell perfectly into his path on the edge of the box, but the former Blackburn man let fly with an unstoppable half-volley.
John McGinn responded with a long-range drive which shaved Alex McCarthy’s crossbar.
Villa, though, were all at sea at the back in a shambolic first-half display.
In the ninth minute Tyrone Mings tried to clear the ball inside the sixyard box from a Ward-Prowse corner and only succeeded in flicking into the path of Stuart Armstrong at the far post.
Time seemed to stand still but the Scotland midfielder could not match namesake Adam and blazed harmlessly over the bar.Villa’s lack of discipline was epitomised by Anwar El Ghazi’s 11th-minute yellow card for tripping Tino Livramento on the touchline.
Smith was indebted to Emi Martinez for producing a brilliant flying save to keep out Ward-Prowse’s 20-yard effort.
El Ghazi appeared keen to get back in the dressing room early after a blatant dive to try and win his team a penalty, which inexplicably went unpunished by referee Andy Madley.
Villa were better in the second half and El Ghazi headed wide before forcing a smart save from McCarthy from distance. Ollie Watkins then cut the Saints defence apart with a series of step-overs before cutting a cross back for Emi Buendia to shoot wide. Buendia returned the favour with a fine through ball which Watkins drilled into the side-netting. Saints still posed a threat at the other end.
In the 66th minute it needed more acrobatics from goalkeeper Martinez to turn Che Adams’ header from a WardProwse free-kick behind for a corner.
SOUTHAMPTON (4-4-2): McCarthy 6, Livramento 7, Bednarek 7, Salisu 6, WalkerPeters 7; Elyounoussi 6 (Diallo 76), Ward-Prowse 8, Romeu 7, S Armstrong 6 (Lyanco 56); A Armstrong 8 (Broja 81), Adams 7. Goal: A Armstrong 3.
ASTON VILLA (4-2-3-1): Martinez 7, Cash 4, Tuanzebe 5, Mings 5, Targett 5; Nakamba 6 (Ramsey 63), McGinn 7; Bailey 5, Buendia 6 (Archer 71), El Ghazi 5 (Davis 79); Watkins 6.