Aston Villa Home Lost 0 – 3
Sandwiched between games where they had to keep PSG and Ousmane Dembélé quiet, Aston Villa had a very different task at St. Mary’s where they found themselves up against a forward pairing of Onuachu and Archer, selected together by our latest new manager: meet the new boss, same as the old one. Hopes that our visitors might have an eye on their Champions League games were dashed by a line-up that included Rashford, Asensio and Rogers – arguably the best strike force in the Premier League. Simon Rusk has a much more pragmatic approach than his predecessors and in our situation it doesn’t matter about our goals-for tally as long as the opposition have nil. In the first half, Archer did manage a tight angle shot comfortably dealt with by Martínez and Tall Paul managed a header of sorts, but the main thing was that Villa’s clear cut opportunities were limited. Paul was withdrawn for Dibling at the break and Archer was to make way for Stewart on the hour, but no change in the ‘Aston Villa nil’ situation. The visitors, though, had a much more illustrious bench to look to, including Watkins, who benefitted from Walker-Peters and Smallbone losing possession and he was clearly fouled by Bednarek when played in. Asensio took the penalty, but still no Villa goal as Ramsdale guessed right and Stephens was back to boot the loose ball clear. Then Fernandes, as is his wont, went down as if grievously injured and Dibling dithered between kicking out for a throw or playing on, so ending up losing possession tamely; this time when the ball was played forward for Watkins, the England man beat Ramsdale with a cushioned volley. It wasn’t long before impressive sub Malen scored his side’s second with deceptive ease and, as usual these days, the ground began to empty early. Those who left missed Fernandes (no, he wasn’t injured) bringing the best out of Martínez. They also missed a debut for 18 year old Jay Robinson who showed a trick or two on the ball, but was out of his depth in defence and failed to track Malen; the situation ended with a penalty for either of a couple of desperate challenges, so up stepped Asensio again, Ramsdale guessed right again but by now Southampton didn’t have the same desire to reach the rebound and McGinn scored on 90+4.
Three LSSC Man of the Match candidates for you to choose from:
5. Jack Stephens. He goes to ground a bit too easily for his own good, but it’s effective when it works.
18. Mateus Fernandes. He’ll be a good player next season… for somebody.
30. Aaron Ramsdale. Some good saves to go with the penalty set pieces.
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