Dean Smith hails ‘resolute’ Aston Villa performance

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith

Ross Barkley’s 41st minute header was enough to earn the visitors a victory which took them up to eighth in the Premier League.

But they were also indebted to goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who made two excellent saves, while Southampton were denied a stoppage time equaliser by a marginal offside call.

Video assistant referee Mike Dean also opted not to penalise Villa’s Matty Cash for a first-half handball.

Smith said: “We were on the better side of some marginal decisions tonight, which is nice.

“It was a really resolute team performance where I could not really pick one player out.

“Everyone worked hard to keep the ball out of the back of the net. It was a great result after Wednesday at Burnley when we played excellently but lost the game.

“We showed another side of our game tonight. I think the difference was the quality of our goal.”

Villa’s clean sheet was their 10th in 19 Premier League games with Martinez denying both Che Adams and Jan Bednarek in the second half.

Smith, who did not make a substitution till deep into stoppage time, said: “It is not just about the centre-halves and the goalkeeper. You look at the work-rate of the whole team, from Jack Grealish, Ollie Watkins and Ross Barkley. It is a real team effort at the moment.

“I didn’t want to upset the balance in the second half.

“It has been a really pleasing turnaround, from lockdown to where we are now. We have learned a lot of lessons but we are only at the halfway stage at the moment.”

By Matt Maher

Chief sports writer for the Express & Star.