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Game #5651

Aston Villa

Saturday, 21 January 2023

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Won

11th (-)

Last 5: 🟩 🟨 🟥 🟩 🟩

Premier League

Southampton

St Mary's Friends Provident Stadium

Attendance: 30,424

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

Southampton

0-1

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Aston Villa

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Assist(s) | Douglas Luiz | 77' |

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

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MATCH TIMELINE

Saturday, 21 January 2023

💥 | 42’ Play suspended due to drone over ground
🕒 | 51’ Play resumes
🕒 | HT Southampton 0-0 Aston Villa
💥 | 63’ Goal disallowed by VAR (Southampton)
🟨 | 64’ Booking, Douglas Luiz for protesting a foul on Jacob Ramsey in the box that allowed Southampton to score
🔁 | 69’ Sub off, Emiliano Buendía, Sub on, Philippe Coutinho
⚽ | 77’ Goal, 1-0, Ollie Watkins, Assist by Douglas Luiz
🔁 | 81’ Sub off, Leon Bailey, Sub on, Matty Cash
🟨 | 82’ Booking, Álex Moreno for a bad foul
🔁 | 88’ Sub off, Douglas Luiz, Sub on, Leander Dendoncker
🕒 | FT Southampton 0-1 Aston Villa

Match Statistics

Possession F | 63%
Possession A | 37%
Shots F | 16
Shots A | 8
Shots on Target F | 5
Shots on Target A | 5
Corners F | 2
Corners A | 2
Fouls F | 9
Fouls A | 19

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

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ON THIS DAY

Saturday, 21 January 2023

  • Villa win their fifth League game in seven under Unai Emery.

  • Villa record successive wins for the first time this season.

  • Villa securing their third consecutive away win under the new boss. 

  • Emery has now added 16 points in seven games (2.30 points per game) having inherited a squad who had delivered 12 in 13 (1.1 points per game) under the former manager. 

  • Ezri Konsa makes his 120th appearance for the club (115 Starts) to make it W45 D23 L52, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 17 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

  • Emiliano Buendía chalks up his 60th appearance in a Villa shirt (36 Starts) to make it W20 D11 L29, 7 Goals, 7 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

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DEBUT APPEARANCES

None

FINAL APPEARANCES

None

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Aston Villa

European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1995-96

Southampton

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European Cup / Champions League: ❌
League Champions: ❌
FA Cup Winners: 🏆
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: 1975-76

Aston Villa

Southampton

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FIXTURE HISTORY

Villa v

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Southampton

Previous 5 vs. Southampton: 🟥 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟩

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

FIXTURE DETAILS

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Season | 2022-23 |
Matchday | #23 |
League Game | #20 |
Manager Game | #9 |
Saturday, 21 January 2023
Attendance | 30,424 |

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🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

MATCH SUMMARY

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Manager: Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | Hondarribia, 2022-
Referee: Michael Salisbury | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Preston, 2016-
Kick off: 3.00pm
Half Time Score: 🟨 0-0
Full Time Result: 🟩 Won
Full Time Score: 🟩 1-0
Last 5: 🟩 🟨 🟥 🟩 🟩

Scorers
Timeline
On This Day
Trophies
Matches
Fixture

MANAGERIAL RECORD

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Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | 2022-

GAMES | WINS | DRAWS | LOSSES | POINTS PER GAME

🕒 9 | 🟩 | 5 🟨 | 1 🟥 3 | 1.78

Villa Career Form:

Top 6

ALL THE MATCHES LED BY:

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Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | 2022-

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

MATCH OFFICIALS

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Referee: Michael Salisbury | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Preston, 2016-
Matches Officiated: 2
🟩 : 2
🟨 : 0
🟥 : 0
🆘 : 1
Previous 5: 🟩
Last Match: 🟩 27 Nov 21, Villa 2-1 Palace (a) 🆘
Cards: 🟨 🟨 🟨
Assistants: Dan Cook, Dan Robathan.
Fourth official: Keith Stroud.
VAR: Simon Hooper.
Assistant VAR: Richard West.

ALL THE MATCHES REFEREED BY:

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CARDS

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🟨 Douglas Luiz, Protesting
🟨 Álex Moreno, Bad foul

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🟨 Lyanco

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

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TEAM NEWS

TEAM STATS

Following the sale of Danny Ings, Unai Emery can only muster a bench of 6 outfield players, two of whom he has informed can leave the club.

Emery names two ‘keepers on the bench, the woeful Robin Olsen and youngster Viljami Sinisalo fresh from a disappointing loan spell at Burton.

Álex Moreno makes his full debut, whilst Matty Cash returns to the squad after injury.

Starting XI Average Age: | 27.38 |
Bench Average Age: | 26.40 |
Squad Average Age: | 26.89 |
Subs Average Age: | 27.96 |
Oldest Starter: RB Ashley Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 37.56 |
Youngest Starter: M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 21.67 |
Oldest Squad Player: RB Ashley Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 37.56 |
Youngest Squad Player: F Kadan Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 17.02 |
Oldest Substitute: M Philippe Coutinho | 🇧🇷 | 30.63 |
Youngest Substitute: RB Matty Cash | 🇵🇱 | 25.47 |

Referee
Manager

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

MANAGER

Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | 2022-

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Aston Villa

GK Emiliano Martínez | 🇦🇷 |
RB Ashley Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Ezri Konsa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Tyrone Mings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
LB Álex Moreno | 🇪🇸 | 🟨 |
M Douglas Luiz | 🇧🇷 | 🟨 |🔥| 🔁 |
M Boubacar Kamara | 🇫🇷 |
M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |
W Leon Bailey | 🇯🇲 | 🔁 |
W Emiliano Buendía | 🇦🇷 | 🔁 |
CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | ⚽ |

MANAGER

Nathan Jones | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 |

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Southampton

GK Gavin Bazunu | 🇮🇪 |
CB Lyanco | 🇧🇷 | 🟨 |
CB Duje Caleta-Car | 🇭🇷 | 🔁 |
CB Mohammed Salisu | 🇬🇭 |
RB Kyle Walker-Peters | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Ibrahima Diallo | 🇫🇷 |
M Roméo Lavia | 🇧🇪 | 🔁 |
M James Ward-Prowse | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
W Samuel Edozie | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |
CF Adam Armstrong | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |
CF Che Adams | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | 🔁 |

Line Ups

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

SUBSTITUTES

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🔁 | M Philippe Coutinho | 🇧🇷 | for W Emiliano Buendía | 🇦🇷 | 69’ |
🔁 | RB Matty Cash | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇵🇱 | for W Leon Bailey | 🇯🇲 | 81’ |
🔁 | M Leander Dendoncker | 🇧🇪 | M Douglas Luiz | 🇧🇷 | 88’ |

SUBSTITUTES

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🔁 | CF Sékou Mara | 🇫🇷 | for CF Che Adams | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | 61’ |
🔁 | W Mohamed Elyounoussi | 🇳🇴 | for M Roméo Lavia | 🇧🇪 | 61’ |
🔁 | LB Romain Perraud | 🇫🇷 | for W Samuel Edozie | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 62’ |
🔁 | W Mislav Orsic | 🇭🇷 | for CF Adam Armstrong | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 84’ |
🔁 | W Moussa Djenepo | 🇲🇱 | for CB Duje Caleta-Car | 🇭🇷 | 84’ |

Substitutes

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

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GK Robin Olsen | 🇸🇪 |
GK Viljami Sinisalo | 🇫🇮 |
CB Calum Chambers | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Morgan Sanson | 🇫🇷 |
F Kadan Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

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GK Willy Caballero | 🇦🇷 |
M Ainsley Maitland-Niles | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Carlos Alcaraz | 🇦🇷 |
M Joe Aribo | 🇳🇬 |

Player Positions:

GK : Goalkeeper
CB, D, B : Centre Back, Defender, Back
FB, LB, RB, WH : Full Back, Left Back, Right Back, Wing Back, Wing Half


M, CH, LH, RH : Midfielder, Centre Half, Left Half, Right Half
W, OL, OR : Winger, Outside Left, Outside Right
F, IF, IL, IR : Forward, Inside Forward, Inside Left, Inside Right, Second Striker, False 9
CF : Centre Forward

Match Symbols:

⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution

🟨 | Booking

🟥 | Sending off

🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game

Squad Bios

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

SQUAD STATS

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1st XI Cost: £168.78m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 5/11
Homegrown: 1/11
Subs Cost: £45.68m
Team Cost: £214.46m
Squad Cost: £231.83m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 7/20
Homegrown: 3/20

SQUAD STATS

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1st XI Cost: £107.91m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 5/11
Homegrown: 1/11
Subs Cost: £57.53m
Team Cost: £165.44m
Squad Cost: £183.67m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 6/20
Homegrown: 1/20

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

MATCHDAY SQUAD

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GK Emiliano Martínez | 🇦🇷 | £19.58m |
GK Robin Olsen | 🇸🇪 | £3.15m |
GK Viljami Sinisalo | 🇫🇮 | Free |

RB Matty Cash | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇵🇱 | £14.18m |
LB Álex Moreno | 🇪🇸 | £12.00m |
RB Ashley Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Free |

CB Tyrone Mings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £20.60m |
CB Ezri Konsa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £11.97m |
CB Calum Chambers | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Free |

M Philippe Coutinho | 🇧🇷 | £18.00m |
M Douglas Luiz | 🇧🇷 | £15.12m |
M Morgan Sanson | 🇫🇷 | £14.22m |
M Leander Dendoncker | 🇧🇪 | £13.50m |
M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |
M Boubacar Kamara | 🇫🇷 | Free |

W Emiliano Buendía | 🇦🇷 | £34.56m |
W Leon Bailey | 🇯🇲 | £28.80m |

CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £27.72m |
F Kadan Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |

MATCHDAY SQUAD

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GK Gavin Bazunu | 🇮🇪 | £12.30m |
GK Willy Caballero | 🇦🇷 | Free |

RB Kyle Walker-Peters | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £11.97m |
LB Romain Perraud | 🇫🇷 | £10.80m |

CB Lyanco | 🇧🇷 | £6.58m |
CB Duje Caleta-Car | 🇭🇷 | £7.00m |
CB Mohammed Salisu | 🇬🇭 | £10.50m |

M Carlos Alcaraz | 🇦🇷 | £12.00m |
M Ibrahima Diallo | 🇫🇷 | £10.80m |
M Roméo Lavia | 🇧🇪 | £10.80m |
M Joe Aribo | 🇳🇬 | £6.23m |
M James Ward-Prowse | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |
M Ainsley Maitland-Niles | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Loan |

W Mohamed Elyounoussi | 🇳🇴 | £16.20m |
W Moussa Djenepo | 🇲🇱 | £14.13m |
W Samuel Edozie | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £7.00m |
W Mislav Orsic | 🇭🇷 | £5.00m |

CF Adam Armstrong | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £15.93m |
CF Che Adams | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | £15.03m |
CF Sékou Mara | 🇫🇷 | £11.40m |

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

UNAVAILABLE

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Injury | 4 |
GK Jed Steer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Achilles, 6 Aug 2022 [23]
CB Diego Carlos | 🇧🇷 | Achilles, 20 Aug 2022 [21]
M John McGinn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | Hamstring, 4 Jan 2023 [4]
LB Lucas Digne | 🇫🇷 | Shoulder, 21 Jan 2023 [1]

Loan Terms | 1 |
CB Jan Bednarek | 🇵🇱 |

Out On Loan | 10 |
M Finn Azaz | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Plymouth
CF Louie Barry | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | MK Dons
CF Wesley | 🇧🇷 | Levante
W Jaden Philogene-Bidace | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Cardiff
CF Keinan Davis | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Watford
W Bertrand Traoré | 🇧🇫 | Basaksehir
CB Kortney Hause | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Watford
FB Ben Chrisene | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Kilmarnock
M Tim Iroegbunam | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | QPR
CF Cameron Archer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Middlesbrough

Not Selected | 2 |
RB Frédéric Guilbert | 🇫🇷 |
M Marvelous Nakamba | 🇿🇼 |

UNAVAILABLE

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Not Recorded

Unavailable

LEAGUE TABLE

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MATCHDAY PROGRAMME

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Tables & Programmes

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

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MATCH QUOTES

“I’m so happy with his work and how [Ollie Watkins] is helping the team. “If he is scoring I think he can be feeling better and he can take confidence. “It is not just his responsibility alone to score, it is for other players as well. But I’m so happy with him today.” “[But] I think we can do better. “We are winning some matches but there’s more in my mind I want to do. “A lot of teams are trying to sign players to improve and stay in the Premier League. We have only signed one player [Moreno] at the moment. “We are, above all, giving our [current] players the opportunity to show they’ve improved with us, then we can add some players to improve the squad and add better balance to each position. “It is a good pressure for him [Ollie Watkins], if he is feeling it. [The loss of Danny Ings]. “He can feel our support and his team-mates support. He has responsibility as well to do his work and if he is scoring he can be feeling better and take confidence. “We are not giving him the sole responsibility. Other players like Leon Bailey, Emi Buendia and Jacob Ramsey get in the box and can score. His goal today was very good for him, for the team and we got the three points. “He’s a competitor, and he’s a striker, so when he’s not scoring he’s not happy, but I’m so happy with his work and how he’s helping the team. Offensively we needed to press, we needed to be together, we needed to keep possession of the ball from our long balls. “Then when he scores he’s helping more, but it’s not his responsibility alone to score our goals. It’s on other players as well. I am so happy with him today, not just for his goal - of course it’s the difference - but his overall work. “The last match we won away against Brighton and Tottenham were different because we needed to defend a lot. “We needed to work without the ball and needed to be good. “Today we played with more possession. They were trying to recover the ball in the middle and have good transitions but we didn’t allow it. “We were in their box more than they were in ours. When they made the substitutions the impact was good and we changed something as well in our shape. “We recovered again control, scored and I think we deserved. Southampton, the last matches and today, they are improving. “I’m really happy and proud of our work, the commitment of the players. Today was a key match because we were near the bottom two months ago and every team is pushing, signing players and are competitive. “Southampton were playing well, compact and confident. Today we did well. We were committed, everyone, to try and remember the system which started the process. “The way we won against Brighton and Tottenham was being competitive, defending but also being ready to attack. Today was different because we played with good control, more possession and positioning. We did not concede corners. “They are aggressive on set pieces. In Ward-Prowse they have one of the best players in the world for delivery. I think it is a key match, in terms of how we can break from where we were. Now, I am looking at the table, we have 28 points. The difference with the players is big. “The most important thing about the way we’re playing in matches, we have 16 points from 21, is to be consistent, to be competitive, to adapt to the opposite team. They are pushing us and imposing themselves. The first step is to be competitive and adapt as a team, respect everybody, the opposite team and players. “We are doing it. This is the first step. Then it’s to improve playing, to improve with the ball possession, with our positioning, to try and reduce our mistakes. Today, we competed very well as well. We played more like I want us to, than we did in our last matches, but we have to improve more. “At the moment we’re speaking with some players about the opportunity to leave. “They know it. Then, if we can have space to include some players, to add some players and improve the squad, taking the balance in the squad, we are going to do it. “But that’s only if, really, they are going to improve us, add quality and add some skill which is different and make an impact in the squad. We are out of the Carabao Cup, we are out of the FA Cup, we are now only playing in the Premier League, and we want to build a strong team. “At the moment we have very good players and we are happy with the players we have, but of course we want to add more players maybe in this transfer window, or maybe in the summer. In the process, we want to do it.” “Nakamba, I spoke with him and the idea is to leave and to take minutes in another team. “He has to try and get back to his performance that he did here last year and two years ago, but now he doesn’t have space in the squad and he can’t wait, to stay here. He knows, and as well other players could leave.” Unai Emery.
Quotes

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

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MATCH REPORTS

Opens in New Window

*BBC Sport*
Saturday, 21 January 2023

**Southampton remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League after Ollie Watkins’ second-half header earned Aston Villa a narrow win at St Mary’s.** Watkins nodded Douglas Luiz’s outswinging free-kick into the bottom corner with 13 minutes remaining as Villa claimed their fifth victory in seven league games under new manager Unai Emery. The visitors dominated possession but were fortunate not to fall behind midway through the first half when Che Adams’ close-range effort was ruled out for offside. Saints had the ball in the Villa net again shortly after the hour mark, but James Ward-Prowse’s deflected strike was chalked off after VAR spotted a foul by Mohamed Elyounoussi in the build-up. Watkins’ fifth goal of the season ultimately proved decisive, as Saints’ three-match winning run in all competitions came to an abrupt end. “I’m so happy with his work and how he is helping the team,” Emery said of the former Brentford forward. “If he is scoring I think he can be feeling better and he can take confidence. “It is not just his responsibility alone to score, it is for other players as well. But I’m so happy with him today.” Saturday’s game at St Mary’s was suspended five minutes before half-time when a drone was seen hovering above the Southampton penalty area. Both teams were taken off the pitch by referee Michael Salisbury before re-emerging 10 minutes later once police had given the all-clear. Villa victorious after double let-off Only Premier League leaders Arsenal have collected as many points as Villa since Emery replaced Steven Gerrard in the Villa Park hot seat last October. The visitors were crisp in possession at St Mary’s but struggled to properly trouble Southampton early on, Emiliano Buendia and full debutant Alex Moreno both firing well wide of Gavin Bazunu’s goal inside 20 minutes. They survived a let-off when Adams’ first-half goal was disallowed but spurned an excellent opportunity to go in front when Ramsey shot straight at Bazunu from inside the area, with Leon Bailey sending the follow-up over the crossbar. Bazunu almost gifted Villa the opener in the early stages of the second half when his miscued clearance allowed Ramsey to tee up Bailey, but the Saints goalkeeper atoned for his error by smothering the Jamaica international’s low shot. Villa had another narrow escape when Salisbury disallowed Ward-Prowse’s effort after Elyounoussi clipped Ramsey’s ankle, but Watkins’ late header secured a third straight away league win under their new boss. They had Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to thank for preserving their narrow lead late on, the 30-year-old parrying Moussa Djenepo’s curling shot past the far post before gathering the resulting corner. “I think we can do better,” Emery told BBC Match of the Day afterwards. “We are winning some matches but there’s more in my mind I want to do. “A lot of teams are trying to sign players to improve and stay in the Premier League. We have only signed one player [Moreno] at the moment. “We are, above all, giving our [current] players the opportunity to show they’ve improved with us, then we can add some players to improve the squad and add better balance to each position.” Saints rue luck after disallowed goals Before the game, manager Nathan Jones said escaping the relegation zone was the “first psychological barrier” Southampton needed to overcome as they bid to maintain their top-flight status this season. It is a hurdle they have yet to clear, but they left the pitch ruing their luck after being denied a fourth successive victory in all competitions by two tight refereeing decisions. Adams’ disallowed effort was by far their best opportunity of a first half in which they managed just one regular attempt - a Lyanco header after only five minutes. Jones’ half-time switch from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2 appeared to give his players renewed energy, Martinez denying Adam Armstrong before Ward-Prowse scored what he thought was his fifth league goal since the World Cup - only for it to be ruled out for Elyounoussi’s challenge on Ramsey. Asked by BBC Match of the Day about the decision to disallow Ward-Prowse’s effort, Jones said: “It was a goal that was overturned softly. I’m just really, really frustrated because I feel we deserved something from the game. “We showed real naivety on the set play [for Watkins’ goal]. The only way we are conceding is either [through] a counter-attack or set play. “If we keep those out then we’ve got a good side.” Djenepo’s fierce strike almost salvaged a point late on, but Jones must now find a way to lift his players for Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at home to high-flying Newcastle.
Reports

🟩 21 January 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

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