OLLIE WATKINS saved Aston Villa blushes – particularly two-time penalty flop Marco Asensio – on a bruising afternoon on the South Coast.
Villa boss Unai Emery could not have imagined that a trip to relegated Southampton would have proven to be such a difficult and frustrating one.
Ollie Watkins spared Aston Villa’s blushes[/caption]
The high-demanding Spaniard had to wait until 73 minutes before Watkins’s intervention opened the floodgates for the visitors by the Channel.
And once he could relax, he was able to rest some weary bodies before Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against PSG at Villa Park.
Within seven minutes of replacing the subdued Marcus Rashford, Watkins showed the flexibility of hamstrings as he managed, while on the stretch, to hook a volley past Saints goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
It was a brilliant goal, one the great Premier League strikers would have applauded, and it settled the nerves for the away fans who had otherwise been in great voice throughout.
If anyone was pleased with Watkins’s heroics, then it would have been Asensio who, three minutes earlier, had seen his dreadful penalty saved by Ramsdale.
Asensio, 29, had a SECOND poorly-struck penalty saved in stoppage time – he went the same way and so did Ramsdale – but this time John McGinn was on hand to benefit.
In the end, it was a result that lifted Villa into fifth place in the Prem and back into Champions League contention – an eighth win out of nine outings.
But given the tough fixture list coming up, Emery would have wanted to have sealed this much quicker than they did, so he could rest key players that had been subjected to some hefty Southampton challenges.
Marco Asensio had two penalties saved by Aaron Ramsdale[/caption]
Ramsdale celebrates his block[/caption]
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It could have been so much easier had Rashford – playing alongside Asenio in the Premier League for just the second time – scored inside the opening 40 seconds.
On-loan Rashford, 27, was unleashed by Youri Tielemans and survived the clutches of the new semi-automated offside technology.
Yet on his 29th birthday and 250th Saints appearance, Polish defender Jan Bednarek was in the right place to block the attempt.
Since their record relegation was confirmed last weekend at Tottenham, it was inevitable that sorry Ivan Juric – who oversaw 13 defeats out of 16 – would not be hanging around.
Interim boss Simon Rusk made two changes and went with a back three and though Villa dominated possession in the first half, Southampton had a chance on 16 minutes that could have ruffled a few feathers.
Cameron Archer outpaced the tentative Tyrone Mings but Emiliano Martinez saved the attempt with both hands and was reminded by the away support why he is the “world’s No.1 keeper”.
Ramsdale, 26, has had a terrible time in the Saints goal this season, following another personal relegation, but he will be proud of the way he blocked the long-distance shot from Amadou Onana on 48 minutes.
And also how he managed to palm away the spot-kick from Spaniard Asensio, who must do better if the tie with PSG ends up going to penalties this week.
Watkins had won that clear-cut penalty – less than two minutes after replacing Rashford – from a Bednarek challenge.
And the Englishman scored his 15th goal of the season as he managed to reach Tieleman’s crafty long-pass.
Any prospects of a nerve finale seemed to disappear when Dutch midfielder Malen scored for the third game in a row with a clinical finish on 79 minutes.
That was the cue for hundreds of Southampton to go marching out of St Marys and in fairness, who could blame them?
Apart from a 88th-minute Martinez full-length save from Mateus Fernandes, it got worse for Rusk’s troops.
And though Ramsdale defied Asensio once again, McGinn was quick to react in the 94th minute, showing off once more his famous goggle celebration.
Southampton need just ONE POINT to avoid being the statistically worst team in Premier League history but with six matches left, they are running out of time.
