ADAM ROCKET
Armstrong stunner sinks Smith’s Villa
ADAM ARMSTRONG came up with a Bonfire Night belter to end his nine-match goal drought for Southampton.
His stunning early strike repaid boss Ralph Hasenhuttl for keeping faith with his misfiring front-man.
Aston Villa arrived on the south coast in the midst of their joint-worst losing run of manager Dean Smith’s three-year tenure.
Despite that dismal record of four straight defeats, former Holt Ender Smith was serenaded with chants of ‘Deano, Deano, Deano’ from the away end.
Those travelling Villa fans were stunned into silence when Armstrong blasted Saints ahead after two minutes.
Defensive mishaps have been a feature of Villa’s dramatics slide down the table and Matty Cash was at it again, misjudging the flight of James Ward-prowse’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 exblackburn man let fly with an unstoppable left-foot half volley. John Mcginn responded with a long-range drive which shaved Alex Mccarthy’s crossbar, but Villa were all at sea at the back throughout a shambolic first half display.
In the ninth minute Tyrone Mings tried to clear the ball away from inside the sixyard box from a Ward-prowse corner but only succeeded in flicking into the path of Stuart Armstrong at the far post.
Time seemed to stand still but Scotland midfielder Armstrong could not match namesake Adam and blazed harmlessly over the crossbar.
Villa’s complete lack of discipline was epitomized by Anwar El Ghazi’s 11thminute yellow card for tripping Saints’ teenage sensation Tino Livramento on the touchline.
Smith was indebted to goalkeeper Emi
Martinez for producing a brilliant flying save to keep out Ward-prowse’s drilled 20yard effort 12 minutes before half-time.
El Ghazi appeared determined to get back into 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 much better in the second half and El Ghazi headed wide from Mcginn’s looping cross.
Ollie Watkins then cut the Saints defence apart before cutting a cross back for Emi Buendia to shoot wide.
Saints still posed a threat at the other end and in the 66th minute it needed more acrobatics from Martinez to turn Che Adams’s header from a Ward-prowse free-kick behind for a corner.
SOUTHAMPTON (4-4-2): Mccarthy 6; Livramento 7, Bednarek 7, Salisu 6, Walker-peters 7; Elyounoussi 6 (Diallo 76), WARD-PROWSE 8, Romeu 7, S Armstrong 6 (Lyanco 6); A Armstrong 8 (Broja 81), Adams 7.
ASTON VILLA (4-2-3-1): Martinez 7; Cash 4, Tuanzabe 5, Mings 5, Targett 5; Nakamba 6 (Ramsey 63), Mcginn 7; Bailey 5, Buendia 6 (Archer 71), El Ghazi 5 (Davis 79); Watkins 6.
REFEREE: Andy Madley 6.