Aston Villa vs Southampton: Duran strike seals home victory

A first-half strike by forward Jhon Durán was enough to give Aston Villa all the three points as they beat Southampton 1-0 in the Premier League at home on Saturday.

Villa moved up to fifth place in the standings with 25 points from 15 matches, while Southampton remain bottom with five points.

Villa coach Unai Emery made four changes to the side that beat Brentford on Wednesday with striker Ollie Watkins, the club's leading scorer in the league this season with seven goals, on the bench.

Duran made the most of his first league start of the season when he opened the scoring in the 24th minute, chasing down a long ball, capitalising on some sloppy defending by Southampton defenders Nathan Wood and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, before charging into the box and powering a finish past goalkeeper Joe Lumley.

The 20-year-old, who netted his fifth league goal of the campaign, came close to doubling Villa's lead moments later when left back Ian Maatsen's cut-back found him in space but his shot was blocked.

While the visitors dominated possession, they failed to register a single shot on target in the match, and their defensive woes continued to haunt them.

The promoted side have committed 10 errors leading to goals in the league this season, which is three more than any other team in the top five European leagues.

Having snapped their eight-match winless streak thanks to a 3-1 home league win over Brentford, Villa looked comfortable for the most part. But some poor decision-making meant that they failed to add to their tally.

Ross Barkley nearly extended Villa's lead in the closing minutes of the game, but the midfielder's close-range shot was blocked by Wood.

Villa were dealt with an injury blow to winger Leon Bailey, who was replaced in the 59th minute.