Smith embarrassed by ‘dreadful’ Villa as Long leads Saints stroll
Dean Smith admitted to being embarrassed by a toothless Aston Villa performance against Southampton.
After a match in which Smith’s side created next to nothing and failed to muster a shot on or off target before half-time, the manager said: “It was a dreadful performance, highlighted by the first 20 minutes.
“I think the thing that hurt me the most was the lack of fight, that competitive edge in the first half. That has to be the lowest of the low. I thought the Watford [defeat] was bad, but today was on a par with that.”
He added that some of his players had “played themselves out” of next weekend’s League Cup final against Manchester City.
Shane Long put Southampton ahead in the eighth minute. Though they had to wait until the 95th minute for their second goal, the hosts were far superior and ought to have been out of sight long before Stuart Armstrong scored to move the club 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
“Thirty-four points maybe is not enough, so we need more,” manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said. “I don’t talk about being safe. In total it was one of our best home games so far this season.”
It was only profligate finishing and
Pepe Reina’s one-on-one goalkeeping for Aston Villa that kept them at bay.
They started particularly strongly down the left, from where Long’s goal was created. Ryan Bertrand and Moussa Djenepo combined to good effect and the Malian crossed with the outside of his foot for Long, somewhat unconventionally, to thrust the ball over the line with his groin.
Hasenhuttl gave a Premier League debut to Will Smallbone and the 20-year-old hit the post via a deflection off Tyrone Mings.
Further chances came for Djenepo and Danny Ings, both of whom were foiled by superb stops by Reina.
Villa were marginally better after the break but it was still Southampton who looked more likely to score.
Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg was the next to go close. He started a dynamic counter attack with an excellent tackle on Jack Grealish before racing up field and exchanging passes with Long before his strike was saved by Reina.
Villa kept at it and finally created a problem down Southampton’s right with the ball ending up at the feet of Mbwana Samatta, whose shot on the turn was deflected over.
Villa won a corner in stoppage time and sent everyone, including Reina, up to attack it. Saints cleared, substitute Che Adams released Armstrong, and the Scot finished into an empty net.
Following last weekend’s home defeat by Burnley, Hasenhuttl spoke of the importance of improving the atmosphere at St Mary’s and making Southampton’s home a “nasty” place to come and play.
“It was a fantastic atmosphere and I must say the guys enjoyed it very much,” he said. “I was critical last week and spoke about the importance of having a fortress here again and it was a very good reaction from everybody: the players, from us as a team but also from the crowd.
“You could immediately feel that they were supporting us and it was important for the young lad [Smallbone] when he is coming in and making his debut in the Premier League.”