Southampton 0-1 Aston Villa: Ross Barkley heads winner for visitors
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Ross Barkley scored his first headed goal in the Premier League since December 2016
Ross Barkley headed the winner as Aston Villa reignited their European hopes with victory over Southampton in the Premier League in an entertaining tussle at St Mary's.
The midfielder guided Jack Grealish's cross beyond goalkeeper Alex McCarthy before the break as Villa bounced back from defeat at Burnley.
Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez produced a great save to deny Che Adams with 20 minutes remaining, while Matty Cash cleared off the line late on as Southampton failed to make their pressure count.
Danny Ings then had the ball in the net in added time but the striker was flagged offside.
Saints were earlier denied a penalty when Stuart Armstrong's effort struck Cash on the arm but was deemed to have deflected off the defender's thigh.
Victory sees Dean Smith's side climb to eighth, but with a game in hand on many of those above them.
Southampton, who have now lost three league games in a row, remain 11th.
Grealish and Martinez inspire Villa
For all Villa's entertaining attacking football this season, this was a victory in which the visitors had to dig in and, at times, ride their luck.
Smith's side had already surpassed their best points tally at the halfway stage of a Premier League campaign since 2009-10, when they finished sixth, and have now won more games in the competition in half a season than they did in the whole of the last one.
It needed the creative spark of talismanic captain Grealish and the reactions of goalkeeper Martinez to earn three points that move them back within touching distance of a European spot.
Grealish's hooked cross for Barkley's headed winner was his ninth assist in the league this season, with only Tottenham's Harry Kane (11) and Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne (10) having made more.
Villa's failure to kill off the game at Turf Moor in midweek cost them against Burnley, but this time the visitors' goalkeeper kept them in the fixture.
Martinez has been superb since arriving from Arsenal and kept his 10th clean sheet of the season thanks to a number of fine stops.
He denied Adams from close range and then pulled off a double save following a Southampton corner late on which Cash eventually cleared off the line.
The Argentine was finally beaten by Ings in added time but the Southampton striker was narrowly offside.
"I came here with massive ambitions," said Martinez afterwards.
"I always say we are not here to stay in the division, we have the quality to go to Europe. I want top six, we have a great team and a great manager."
Saints frustrated by failure to finish
Southampton had the ball in the net in the 94th minute but Ings' effort was ruled out
Southampton were top of the league in November, albeit for just 48 hours, but have slipped into the bottom half of the table after three successive defeats.
They have also failed to score in five of their past seven Premier League games.
Their penalty appeal came in the first 10 minutes, but was not given after a review by the video assistant referee.
Ings produced a delightful piece of skill to flick the ball over Douglas Luiz with his heel and tee up Armstrong, whose effort hit Cash on the arm after a slight deflection off the right-back's body.
The hosts enjoyed plenty of possession and strung together several dangerous moves, but could not manage one on target until the 70th minute when Martinez saved from Adams.
Ralph Hasenhuttl's side enjoyed 20 shots in total, three of those following a corner in the 85th minute.
First Martinez palmed Jan Bednarek's header away, then the goalkeeper kept out Adams' follow-up and finally Cash blocked Jack Stephens' shot on the line.
The number of chances created were at least a positive for Hasenhuttl, who said his side "invested everything" but "must do better" to convert them.
'We have to find a way out of this'
Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, speaking to Match of the Day: "It's not nice to lose like this. But you know football is not always fair. Today we did not deserve to lose.
"They told me the penalty decision in the first half was a goal if it did not hit the hand. These moments can be decisive if you go 1-0 up.
"We created more chances. Twenty shots on goal is not bad in 90 minutes. We are missing the clinical edge and maybe at the end a bit of luck.
"We had a time in the season where we scored easily. Now there's always a block or a goalkeeper makes a great save. At the moment there are injuries too. We have to find a way out of this."
Aston Villa boss Dean Smith: "We didn't change the team from the other night against Burnley. I thought the lads had played well enough to keep the shirt and they put some effort into today's performance.
"We are on the positive side of some tight decisions this time which is pleasing and it was a quality goal.
"We'd done enough to win that game and we came here to be hard to beat. Some resolute defending at times. A fantastic goal to see."
Villa earn overdue win over Saints - the stats
Aston Villa have beaten Southampton in the Premier League for the first time since December 2013, ending a run of eight such matches without victory (three draws and five defeats).
Southampton have lost three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since November 2019.
They have failed to score in five of their past seven Premier League games, having only done so in five of their previous 41 in the competition beforehand.
Villa have gained their 10th win of the season in their 19th game, the earliest into a Premier League campaign they've done so since 2009-10 (18 games).
Jack Grealish has been directly involved in 15 league goals (six goals, nine assists) in a single season for the first time, eclipsing his tally of last season (14 - eight goals, six assists in 36 games) in just 19 games.
The last Aston Villa player to register more assists in a single season in the competition was Ashley Young (10 in 2010-11).
Emiliano Martinez has kept 10 clean sheets in the Premier League this season, only Manchester City's Ederson (12) has more in the competition in 2020-21.
What next?
Southampton face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday (20:15 GMT), while Aston Villa host West Ham 24 hours later.
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