Southampton 0-1 Aston Villa

Report on Aston Villa’s 1-0 victory over Southampton, which was delayed by over 10 minutes due to a drone flying over St. Mary’s; after a VAR review, James Ward-Prowse’s goal was annulled for a soft foul; with his winning goal, Ollie Watkins lifted Villa 11 points above the relegation zone; Saints are still last.

For the first time under Unai Emery, Aston Villa won back-to-back games as they defeated Southampton 1-0 in the second half on Ollie Watkins’ header. After their team’s vital victory against fellow relegation contenders Everton last weekend, home supporters would have been optimistic about climbing out of the relegation zone, but the hosts managed only one shot throughout a lackluster first half.

The most entertaining event of the first 45 minutes was probably a nine-minute drone delay that occurred over the stadium just before halftime, but it appeared that things had finally picked up when Southampton’s deflected shot from James Ward-Prowse looped over Emiliano Martinez to take the lead just after the hour.