Aston Villa will have a good chance of clambering off the bottom of the Premier League table if all opponents give them the sort of hand up that Southampton offered here. Ronald Koeman’s team shared the points by passing up an abundance of opportunities before allowing Joleon Lescott to put Villa into an improbable lead. Oriol Romeu came off the bench to score for the home side, who failed to make another breakthrough despite dominating. For Villa this was progress.
“We suffered a lot but the team showed spirit,” said Rémi Garde, who has now presided over two draws in four matches in charge. “Southampton were pushing and creating many chances but I never saw one of my players get down. Everyone was fighting for one another. We have shown the spirit that we need to show in every game to avoid relegation.”
Koeman was aghast that his team did not welcome Villa as brutally as they had done in May, when they won 6-1. “We were 4-0 up after 20 minutes in that game and we had four big opportunities in the first 20 minutes here also,” said the frustrated Dutchman, who wondered whether his players’ inaccuracy was rooted in their three-game losing streak prior to this.
“If you miss four chances and don’t get one on target, I don’t understand,” said Koeman. “Maybe it’s a lack of confidence or having more doubts than normal, but the players have quality and need to bring more.”
Sadio Mané scored a hat-trick in record time in the May victory and the winger created Southampton’s first chance here in the first minute, slinking past Leandro Bacuna before pulling a pass back to Dusan Tadic, who shot over from 12 yards. That pattern would recur, as Graziano Pellè was guilty of an equally wayward finish two minutes later before Victor Wanyama headed wide from eight yards and Mané blazed over from 16.
Rudy Gestede cleared off the line in 19th minute after Brad Guzan punched a corner to José Fonte. Then Mané missed again, heading over from close range.
Villa were a shambles defensively while all over the pitch they behaved like determined contrarians, utterly eschewing the current trend for pressing opponents. Yet the seeming inevitability of an opening goal for the hosts sucked the intensity out of Southampton’s play. They should have been punished for dropping their standards in the 29th minute, when Villa’s most dynamic player, Jordan Veretout, jinked down the right and crossed for Gestede. The striker fluffed his shot from 15 yards.
Pellè missed with a header after Lescott failed to cut out a cross by Mané in the 34th minute. But Lescott soon made up for that by exploiting equally dozy defending by Southampton, guiding the ball into the net from close range after a corner by Veretout.
Wanyama fired over as Southampton tried to make amends immediately and Mané had a shot deflected wide early in the second half but Villa were performing better now. Garde’s side put together spells of tidy possession and threatened to increase their lead with a couple of long shots. Mostly, however, the visitors defended more diligently. When Southampton managed to prise Villa apart, they were thwarted by last-ditch interventions, Alan Hutton blocking a shot by Steven Davis in the 63rd minute.
When Davis put Juanmi one-on-one with the goalkeeper eight minutes later, Guzan saved. But Villa could not maintain their vigilance and Southampton equalised with a goal similar to the one that they had conceded, Romeu stabbing James Ward-Prowse’s corner into the net.
At least Villa did not crumble after that. They would have regained the lead if Ashley Westwood had not slashed wide after a pass by Carlos Sánchez. Virgil van Dijk and Shane Long were given chances to steer Southampton back to winning ways but did not find the target with late shots.
