Aston Villa cannot find any respite. Three days into the post-Tim Sherwood era, the club were eager for something to galvanise them after a traumatic period. Despite the loud imploring of their fans, it did not happen.
Villa were not bad and they worked the Southampton goalkeeper, Maarten Stekelenburg, with a few half-chances, most notably though Leandro Bacuna and Gabriel Agbonlahor. But they were not good enough and even though Southampton barely turned up in the first half, it always seemed as though they had greater scope to make the difference.
The opening goal came from an unlikely source, the right-back Maya Yoshida exchanging passes with Gastón Ramírez then striding on and firing a low drive that was too hot for Brad Guzan. This is Yoshida’s fourth season at the club and it was his fourth goal.
The coup de grâce was applied by Graziano Pellè, and it followed a lovely chipped cross from the substitute Dusan Tadic. Villa got one back at the end through the substitute Scott Sinclair’s penalty, after Virgil van Dijk had lunged at another substitute, Jordan Ayew, but it was not enough for them. At full-time, the Villa crowd called for the departure of the owner, Randy Lerner. The frustration persists.
Kevin MacDonald had been entrusted with the job of guiding Villa out of the hole they were in – to borrow a phrase from Sherwood, who was sacked as the manager on Sunday – and the caretaker could be pleased with the first-half performance. Villa restricted Southampton and they might have nicked a goal.
MacDonald played Bacuna and Jordan Amavi further forward as wingers because they “are the best two crossers at the club”, and he wanted to harness the aerial power of Rudy Gestede.
There was a flash of quality on 35 minutes when José Ángel Crespo charged out of defence to feed Bacuna, who swapped passes with Ashley Westwood before dropping his shoulder to beat Matt Targett. Bacuna’s shot was beaten away by Stekelenburg and the goalkeeper also kept out Gestede’s free header from Westwood’s corner on 45 minutes.
But the tide turned when Villa surrendered possession cheaply in the 51st minute and then stood off Yoshida. His connection was sweet and there was all-round surprise when the ball went in, including from Ronald Koeman, the Southampton manager.
Saints had to be more urgent in the second half and they were. There was more zip to their passing and pressing, and Koeman claimed they had enjoyed “total domination”, which was a bit strong but they were certainly stronger. Next up for them is a quarter-final at home to Liverpool. With many of the big names already out of the competition, Southampton can sense opportunity.
For Villa, the travelling supporters were in good voice and gallows humour, as ever, undercut their schtick. But the “Lerner Out” sentiment reflected the undercurrent of despair. The club will continue their efforts to replace Sherwood and Rémi Garde, the former Lyon manager, remains the No1 target. The timescale concerning an appointment is unclear and MacDonald was not sure whether he would still be in charge for the fixture at Tottenham next Monday.
“It’s been quite hectic,” MacDonald said. “I got a call on Sunday asking me to be interim caretaker and I was disappointed because Tim had been very good to me. I haven’t spoken to anybody [on the board] since. It would probably be better for the club if we made an appointment sooner rather than later. They have gone down the road of speaking to one or two. If they ask me to stay on for Monday’s game, that’s fine by me.”
MacDonald saw Westwood go close on 62 minutes and Agbonlahor work Stekelenburg with a right-foot curler. But Southampton ensured smooth passage when Pellè thumped a volley into Guzan’s right-hand corner.
