*Southampton climbed out of the Premier League bottom three with a convincing win over a dismal Aston Villa at Villa Park.* The result sees the Saints move up a place to 17th in the table as they leapfrog Villa, who drop to 18th after a fourth consecutive defeat. The visitors controlled the game from start to finish and capitalised on some shambolic defending to register their biggest win since their 3-1 victory over Wolves in April. Danny Ings opened the scoring, tapping in from close range after Shane Long’s initial effort was saved by Villa keeper Tom Heaton. And Long could have added a second before Jack Stephens met James Ward-Prowse’s corner to double Saints’ lead with a towering header into the bottom right corner. Ings punished Marvelous Nakamba’s loose control to add Southampton’s third after the break. And while Jack Grealish’s superb effort flew into the top right corner for the hosts to reduce the arrears it was not enough to prevent Saints from claiming their fifth win of the season. Villa plot their own downfall If Villa manager Dean Smith had hoped that their Carabao Cup win over Liverpool’s youthful side on Tuesday would raise morale, there was little in this performance which will have encouraged him. Villa’s struggles this term have been underpinned by two main problems, failing to capitalise on winning positions and on occasions delivering abject displays where they have been well beaten. This was the latter. While they conceded late goals in narrow defeats by Liverpool and Chelsea and possibly merited more than the point they collected at Manchester United, from the moment Ings put Southampton ahead, Villa looked shorn of confidence. And all three goals were easily avoidable. Bjorn Engels was caught out for the first with Nathan Redmond’s clipped ball over the top allowing Long to outstrip him for pace. Stephens was allowed to run towards the near post unchecked for the second and Nakamba’s poor control compounded a defensive horror show for the hosts. Aston Villa manager Dean Smith: “Obviously disappointed with the result and the performance. Whenever we concede a goal it feels like the end of the world at the moment. The manner we conceded the goals is very poor. “We start the second half well and then the ball comes off Marvelous’ right foot and they score again. We weren’t good enough today to win the game. “Three goals down against any team in any league is tough, in fairness to the lads they rallied but the manner of the goals we’re conceding is concerning and something to work on.” On John McGinn: “He’s going for an X-ray. It’s a big disappointment, he went chasing the ball and got his studs caught in the ground. It doesn’t look good.” ---- *The Guardian* *Saturday, 21 December 2019* Southampton’s Danny Ings pushes Aston Villa into the relegation zone Aston Villa splashed out almost £150m in the summer, half of which was apportioned to strengthening the defence but, on this evidence, they can feel short-changed after Southampton thrice exposed a concerning soft centre. Villa, who have lost seven of their past nine league matches, displayed a frailty that must have had the assistant coach John Terry tearing his hair out. Jack Grealish struck a wondrous half-volley late on but it proved nothing more than a consolation as Danny Ings continued his scoring streak, finding the net either side of Jack Stephens’ first-half header to earn a victory that hoists Southampton out of the relegation zone at Villa’s expense. This was the start of a pivotal week for Villa, who host Norwich on Boxing Day before a trip to Watford. They got off on a bad note here – John McGinn hobbled off inside four minutes with a suspected ankle injury after making a thunderous block on Cédric Soares – and Dean Smith’s side never recovered. Until Grealish’s strike, they struggled to muster much more than a whiff of the Southampton goal, with Wesley guilty of stroking painfully wide from an early Anwar El Ghazi cross and it was only a matter of time before Southampton seized the initiative. When Shane Long skipped on to a ball over the top by James Ward-Prowse, Villa were in trouble. Long beat Bjorn Engels for pace, with the Villa defender stuck in slow motion as Long raced away before striking at Tom Heaton, who palmed his shot into the path of Ings, who could not miss. Soon after Kortney Hause was stuck in the mud and Southampton sensed another chance to spring forward. Villa got off the hook but it did not take long before Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side doubled their advantage, with Stephens glancing in unchallenged after comfortably beating his marker El Ghazi to a sweet Ward-Prowse corner. Long almost caused more pain before the interval but Hause intervened, helping the ball into Heaton’s grasp. Villa’s entire back five, including Matt Targett, the former Southampton defender, were recruited following promotion last season and here they were pulled from pillar to post by Ings and co. By the time Southampton added a third six minutes after half-time, Villa were at risk of a hiding. Ings’s second goal was gift-wrapped by the Villa substitute Marvelous Nakamba, who inadvertently nudged Nathan Redmond’s cross straight into the path of the striker. Ings could not believe his luck, swivelling in the box before arrowing a shot beyond Heaton. On the touchline Jonathan Kodjia, the Villa striker limbering up for action, covered his head with his hands. The same reaction would have been fitting for Grealish’s peach 15 minutes from time, too. The Villa captain rattled home after Saints cleared corner to the edge of the box but ultimately it was too little, too late.