Remi Garde’s struggling side recorded just their sixth point of the season against a Saints team that has slowed after a stellar couple of months.
With this draw the first away point that Aston Villa have earned since the opening day of the season, its importance for the relegation favourites cannot be understated. That said, it was far from a turnaround performance with the same cracks that have troubled the claret and blues still very much present in the game; they just went unpunished.
The home side started out on top, peppering Brad Guzan’s goal with shots and penetrated the Villa defence repeatedly but the opener surprisingly came from makeshift Villa captain Joleon Lescott. The Saints pushed and found an equaliser from substitute Oriol Romeu and continued to press after that but seemed unable to find the quality that saw them look so dangerous early.
Southampton
Maarten Stekelenburg – 6: Defence clearly at fault for the goal and otherwise no real black spots or highlights.
Ryan Bertrand – 6.5: Solid but nothing impressive.
Virgil van Dijk – 6.5: Reasonably tight at the back and allowed very little to get through on goal.
José Fonte – 6.5: Will be disappointed at losing Lescott at the corner but otherwise looked good.
Cédric Soares – 7: Offered some attacking flair and put in some dangerous balls.
Victor Wanyama – 5.5: Dragged early in the second without having made much impact on the game.
Steven Davis – 6: Seemed largely absent in any significant patches of play but saw a lot of the ball.
Sadio Mané – 6: Unable to replicate his heroics from last season’s encounter but his pace saw him find space now and again.
James Ward-Prowse – 7: The most creative in the Saints forward line and put in some good set pieces.
Dusan Tadic – 6.5: Looked dangerous early but faded before his second half substitution.
Graziano Pelle – 5: Very disappointing, missing a golden opportunity early and largely bullied out of the game by the Villa defence.
Substitutes
Oriol Romeu – 7: Very much helped his side back into the game with important goal. Substituted on for Wanyama in the 63rd minute.
Shane Long – N/A: Substituted on for Mané in the 83rd minute.
Juanmi – 6: Offered a little bit of fighting spirit and a change up front. Substituted on for Tadic in the 63rd minute.
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