Postpublished at 52 mins
Aston Villa 1-2 Southampton
Southampton threaten to shred Villa on the break, but Shane Long takes too long over his cross and in the end his delivery is easily cut out.
Summary
Aston Villa XI: Guzan; Hutton, Richards, Lescott, Cissokho; Sanchez, Westwood, Gueye; Bacuna, Ayew, Sanchez.
Southampton XI: Forster; Cedric, Van Dijk, Fonte, Bertrand; Romeu, Wanyama; Tadic, Davis, Rodriguez; Long.
Postpublished at 52 mins
Postpublished at 48 mins
Aston Villa 1-2 Southampton
Kevin Toner, by the way, is an Irish youngster who has captained Villa's under-21 side throughout this season. He has his first real involvement, getting his head to a dangerous corner to deflect it behind.
get involved Get Involvedpublished at 16:06 British Summer Time 23 April 2016
Text 81111
I'm sorry Jermaine but Villa relegation isn't horrible for the players. Some maybe but certainly not the majority. Lescott, Guzan and Gabby showed how little they think of the fans with their words and actions.
Jim in the Holte End
KICK-OFFpublished at 16:03
Aston Villa 1-2 Southampton
Back up and running. Two changes to tell you about: 19-year-old Kevin Toner replaces Micah Richards for Villa, while Jordy Clasie replaces Victor Wanyama for Saints.
Penalty box predatorpublished at 15:55
Aston Villa 1-2 Southampton
Shane Long had a very effective first half, scoring one and setting up the second, and just look how many of his touches came in the penalty area (right).
Contrast that with his opposite number Jordan Ayew (left), who also had a very good half, but had to work so much harder, dropping deep on many occasions in search of the ball.
Image source, BBC SportPostpublished at 16:00 British Summer Time 23 April 2016
Aston Villa 1-2 Southampton
get involved Get Involvedpublished at 15:51 British Summer Time 23 April 2016
Tweet #bbcfootball
Chris 'Earl' Gray: WHY OH WHY has Black not picked the entire youth team today? They are head and shoulders above this pathetic inept display.
HALF-TIMEpublished at 15:49 British Summer Time 23 April 2016
Aston Villa 1-2 Southampton
Image source, ReutersAnd that's the interval. Not Villa's worst performance but it's still been all too easy for Southampton to bag two goals and the mood at Villa Park remains pretty toxic.
Postpublished at 15:48 British Summer Time 23 April 2016
Aston Villa 1-2 Southampton
Jermaine Jenas
Ex-Spurs & England midfielder on Final Score"Westwood took it well. It wasn't a beautifully worked goal, there was a bit of a coming together and it fell to the Villa man but at an awkward height, and he dealt with it well.
"It's horrible for the fans, but it's horrible for the players as well, relegation. This is as horrible as it gets, letting the fans down. Villa just have not been good enough this year."
GOAL - Ashley Westwoodpublished at 44 mins
Aston Villa 1-2 Southampton
Image source, ReutersNot the prettiest but that's a fair reward for Villa's endeavour in this half. Jordan Ayew, who has been tireless, makes a fine run down the left, cuts back and curls a cross in. Two Villa players miss it but it comes through to Westwood, who gets his knee over the ball and finishes low into the corner.
Postpublished at 44 mins
Aston Villa 0-2 Southampton
Image source, ReutersThey're streaming for the exits at Villa Park.
CLOSE!published at 42 mins
Aston Villa 0-2 Southampton
I'll say this for Aston Villa - it's not the most pathetic performance I've seen, they are still creating chances. They just don't have the quality to put them away. A good inswinging corner finds Jordan Ayew six yards but he puts his header wide.
Postpublished at 15:42 British Summer Time 23 April 2016
Aston Villa 0-2 Southampton
Trevor Sinclair
Former England winger on Final Score"It is unsavory to watch. Lescott has been a great pro but it is one season too much. He has got really bad knee but Long's athleticism, he can't get near him.
"That is really unpleasant for me to watch."
GOAL - Dusan Tadicpublished at 39 mins
Aston Villa 0-2 Southampton
Image source, ReutersThere's that shambolic defence again. Leandro Bacuna plays a woeful backpass that succeeds only in putting Shane Long in a foot race against Joleon Lescott. From there there's only one winner, and although Long makes a hash of his attempt to round Guzan, Tadic is there to collect Long's pass and fire into an empty net.
Postpublished at 37 mins
Aston Villa 0-1 Southampton
To be totally fair, while Villa are pretty shambolic defensively, they are showing signs of fight going forward. Jordan Ayew crosses from the right but Ashley Westwood can only scoop it into Fraser Forster's gloves.
DISALLOWED GOALpublished at 34 mins
Aston Villa 0-1 Southampton
Image source, ReutersSlick interplay almost gets Southampton in, but Shane Long is clearly offside as he lifts the ball over Brad Guzan.
Postpublished at 32 mins
Aston Villa 0-1 Southampton
Southampton should have been through on goal there. Villa were caught woefully undermanned by a Southampton counter and Jay Rodriguez only had to bisect two defenders to release Shane Long, but his through ball is poor.
HITS THE WOODWORKpublished at 28 mins
Aston Villa 0-1 Southampton
Image source, ReutersVilla are hanging on here. For the umpteenth time they fail to deal with a corner, Victor Wanyama has a shot blocked before Virgil van Dijk swings his foot at it and hits the base of the post.
get involved Get Involvedpublished at 15:29 British Summer Time 23 April 2016
Tweet #bbcfootball
John Wilde: Can the entire world be wrong regards Villa? What part of 'connect with the fans and start players who care' does Black not get?
Max Baggins-Craig: Lescott, Richards & Bacuna are worthy of staying. Saints should concentrate on the league instead of becoming distracted.
Postpublished at 25 mins
Aston Villa 0-1 Southampton
Ryan Bertrand whips in a lovely corner and Joleon Lescott just about manages to get to it ahead of Virgil van Dijk. Villa then threaten to break but Shane Long does brilliantly to track back and rob Micah Richards.