SOUTHAMPTON hung on to defeat Aston Villa 4-3 in a thriller at Villa Park.
The Saints had lead 4-0 before a spirited fight-back from Villa saw the game go right to the wire.
Follow ALL of the latest match reaction below…
THAT’S ALL FOR NOW!
What a game of football! That’s all from me, but the footy coverage here at SunSport doesn’t stop here.
We’ve got Manchester United vs Arsenal still to come with coverage starting from 3.15pm.
HAVE A GOOD ONE!
B-DAY PRESENT
Today’s game was certainly worth the £14.95…… for once!
Today’s events summed up by Graeme Bryce!
ASTON VILLA 3-4 SOUTHAMPTON MATCH REPORT
ENTERTAINMENT
What a start to the Premier League season, some of the results have been absolutely astonishing!
DEAD BALL SPECIALIST
James Ward-Prowse is the ninth player in Premier League history to score two direct free-kick goals in a game, and first since Christian Eriksen for Spurs in October 2015 (v Swansea).
Credit: Getty Images
GOAL SCORER
Since the start of last season, only Jamie Vardy (29) has scored more Premier League goals than Danny Ings (27), while no player has scored more from outside the box than Ings (5) in this period.
Credit: Getty Images
FULL-TIME STATS
Villa fought back well in the second half grabbing three goals, but it wasn’t enough to get rescue a point.
In the first half, Grealish wasn’t good enough and if Villa were to stage any kind of fight-back, it would be Grealish leading the charge.
And in the second half, Grealish stepped up!
Villa based over 50 per cent of their play in the attacking third down the left hand-side, which is no surprise as Grealish was operating in that area of the pitch.
Grealish had a hand in all three of villa’s goals, he set up the first, won the penalty for the second and scored the third!
FT: ASTON VILLA 3-4 SOUTHAMPTON
What a way to start of Sunday and what a game of football!
It was a game of two halves, Southampton scored three in the first half to put them in the driving seat.
Goals from Vestergaard and two emphatic free-kicks from Ward-Prowse had the Saints flying going into half-time.
Against the run of play, Ings extended Southampton’s lead to four in the second half.
It was a brilliant finish from the No9, he cut inside onto his right foot and picked out the top right corner.
Mings would grab a goal back for Villa minutes later, finishing off a well worked passage of play.
The chances of a comeback looked slim as the clock hit 90, but some sloppy defending from Diallo gifted the Villans a spot kick which Watkins converted to make it 4-2.
Grealish would strike with a minute to go with a wonderful shot at McCarthy’s near post but it was too little too late.
PEEEEEEP!
THAT’S FULL-TIME!
ASTON VILLA 3-4 SOUTHAMPTON
90+5. Excellent goal by Jack Grealish, he cut inside onto his right foot and fooled McCarthy picking on the bottom corner at the near post!
We’ve been treated to a seven goal thriller, there’s a minute left to play, is there enough time for an equaliser?!
GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!
GREALISH PICKS OUT THE BOTTOM CORNER!!
MINUTE LEFT TO PLAY AND IT’S GAME ON!!!
ASTON VILLA 2-4 SOUTHAMPTON
90+3. Villa are still looking for another goal, they have three minutes or so do grab another or two!
ASTON VILLA 2-4 SOUTHAMPTON
90+2. Too little too late for Villa, they’ve got a second and it was a good finish by Watkins.
He planted the ball into the far corner giving McCarthy no chance, it’ll take a miracle for Villa to get two more in the final three of four minutes.
GOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLL!!!
GREAT PENALTY FROM WATKINS!!!
STRAIGHT INTO THE FAR CORNER!!!
ASTON VILLA 1-4 SOUTHAMPTON
PENALTY!
90. Watkins finds some room inside the penalty area but his shot is blocked by Stephens, the ball lands at the feet of Grealish and Diallo trips the Villa captain.
The referee pointing straight to the spot.
Right decision, Watkins to take.
ASTON VILLA 1-4 SOUTHAMPTON
89. SIX additional minutes to be played at the end of the second half.
ASTON VILLA 1-4 SOUTHAMPTON
87. A shooting opportunity opens up for Luiz 25 yards from goal, the Brazilian tries to pick out the top left corner but McCarthy was equal to it and pulls off a good save.
Time is running out for Villa, three minutes plus whatever is added on.
ASTON VILLA 1-4 SOUTHAMPTON
86. Grealish is picked out in space down the left hand-side, he looks to drill a cross back towards the edge of the penalty area but he puts too much power on it.
It’s not been Grealish’s day today, he hasn’t been as threatening and has looked off the pace a bit.
ASTON VILLA 1-4 SOUTHAMPTON
84. Ings is back to his feet and Hasenhuttl isn’t taking any risks, he’s taken Ings off a brought Long on in his place.
ASTON VILLA 1-4 SOUTHAMPTON
82. Not good news for Saints fans, Ings is down injured holding his knee after a challenge by Elmohamady.
Ings has struggled with his knee in previous seasons and up until now he looked as if he managed to find a way of avoiding injury.
GAME OF THE DAY
We’ve been treated to a five goal thriller so far, and there’s still ten minutes or so left to play!
Credit: Getty Images
ASTON VILLA 1-4 SOUTHAMPTON
SAVE!
79. Another finger tip save by McCarthy to deny Mings! He’s been on fire in between the sticks, the Saints have him to thank for keeping their three goal advantage.
ASTON VILLA 1-4 SOUTHAMPTON
77. Bertrand has picked up a slight knock and Diallo is coming on in his place.
ASTON VILLA 1-4 SOUTHAMPTON
SAVE!
75. The ball breaks to Trezeguet inside the Saints penalty area, he sends his shot crashing into the ground and bouncing up in front of McCarthy who manages to tip the ball over the bar.
The corner is whipped in to a dangerous area but Southampton manage to get the ball clear to safety.
ASTON VILLA 1-4 SOUTHAMPTON
74. Watkins shows some nice skill as he beats Walker-Peters to the byline, he drills a cross into the six yard box but Stephens clears the ball behind for a villa corner.
Villa are ending the second half strongly, the clock is however ticking and they’ll have to score three goals in a very short amount of time.
ASTON VILLA 1-4 SOUTHAMPTON
73. Barkley is getting a lot of joy in the hole behind Watkins, he works some space on the edge of the area and sends a shot straight at McCarthy.
Villa are knocking on the door.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
