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This was a controversial game that was ultimately resolved not on the field but 70 miles away in a cubicle in Stockley Park, where assistant video referee Mike Dean decided not to award Southampton a seemingly blatant penalty in the first half then missed Danny Ings offside to deny the forward a tie in injury time. This time Aston Villa thrived from another gray area of the rule book, with Ross Barkley’s header proving the difference at full time after Ings’ last tie was overturned.
When it came down to that, and not for the first time this season, it was a scrupulous examination: this time Ings’s armpit against Matty Cash’s ass. It was hard lines for Southampton, but it was referee Lee Mason who failed to award a penalty before Barkley headed a Jack Grealish cross that collided with Ralph Hasenhüttl. “Handball was a good save for the player, a good goalkeeper, but it was allowed, it’s not even a VAR decision,” Hasenhüttl said in frustration. “It was a fantastic save. It hurts much.”
As for the dying offside, Hasenhüttl did his best to smile. The decision was confirmed by the VAR after the assistant stopped when Ings intervened with a violent blow from Ryan Bertrand, pushed in Ings’ way by Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez. “We cut all our [shirt] sleeves now in the locker room, ”he said. “Because if Ingsy had done it, it would have been at stake.”
These teams shared seven goals when they met at Villa Park last month, so it was perhaps no surprise that this was another supercharged occasion. The talking point, inevitably, was not an entertaining clash of similar high-octane styles, but how those who engaged in slow, endless reps on a myriad of screens allowed Cash to go out for free. Ings did it brilliantly, fooling Douglas Luiz into the box with an exquisite move before setting the ball for Stuart Armstrong, whose brutal blow clearly hit Cash’s left arm.
But Dean ruled against handball on the grounds that the ball first grazed the Villa defender’s thigh on its way to his arm, a rule noted by Dean Smith. “The letter of the law is that if it deviates from another part of your body, then it can’t happen,” said the Villa coach, who two weeks ago raged with the regulation in the defeat at Manchester City when Rodri won. possession in an offside position in preparation for scoring. “We’ve been on the better side of some fringe decisions for a change, which is good, but it was a determined performance.”
Smith felt the goal was the eye-opening moment of quality. Former Southampton left-back Matt Targett released Grealish down the left and the Villa captain delivered a delicious cross into the box for Barkley four minutes before half-time. The ball seemed to float in the air forever, but Barkley arrived unrivaled to head a header into the corner.
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Villa was not in his prime, but Barkley’s header earned him a second win in six league games. It was an ugly victory, overcome when John McGinn and Cash risked their bodies, but Villa has now won 10 league games this season, overshadowing last season’s tally. This side of Villa, however, is a different beast. Southampton have also won fans for their bravery, but are slipping after winning just one of their last eight league games – although, as Hasenhüttl was quick to point out midweek, that win came against the champions. Things could have turned out differently if Southampton had thrived from a late corner that led to three last-minute blocks or if Ings had ditched the home jersey for a vest before hitting the rebound.
The crescendo was painful for Southampton, as Villa miraculously denied Jan Bednarek, Che Adams and then Jack Stephens before those pesky all-too-familiar dotted lines landed on the visitors’ side. “Good thing it wasn’t my ass,” McGinn tweeted, trying to see the funny side.
