Aston Villa boosted their hopes of securing a second consecutive season of Champions League football with victory over already-relegated Southampton – despite Marco Asensio missing two second-half penalties for the visitors.
Ollie Watkins, who had come on for Marcus Rashford midway through the second half, broke the deadlock when he met Youri Tielemans’ exquisite pass with a first-time effort which struck the underside of the crossbar on its way in.
Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale had denied Asensio from the penalty spot just three minutes earlier, after Watkins had gone to ground under Jan Bednarek’s rash challenge.
Donyell Malen, who entered the fray alongside Watkins, made it 2-0 before Ramsdale saved another tame Asensio penalty in added time – only for John McGinn to sweep home the rebound to complete the scoring nine minutes after coming off the bench.
Villa are the first team in Premier League history to have three different substitutes score for them in a single game.
“The subs had a very good impact,” Villa boss Unai Emery said. “We were dominating [the first half] but didn’t have many chances to score.
“In the second half, the gameplan was the same. We tried to push more and more, and we did. It was a fantastic 90 minutes.”
Southampton’s Cameron Archer had the best chance of the first half when he shot straight at Emiliano Martinez after running on to Kyle Walker-Peters’ pass, but it proved to be Saints’ best opening of the match.
The victory lifts Villa up to fifth in the table, while Southampton remain on 10 points.
Reaction to Saturday’s Premier League games
