Ralph Hasenhuttl praised the way a ‘fantastic’ Aston Villa side never gave up during Sunday’s thrilling 4-3 Premier League defeat to Southampton, while speaking to Hampshire Live.
With 60 minutes on the clock at Villa Park, the only question on everyone’s lips was how many the Saints would score.
A Danny Ings wonder-goal had just put Hasenhuttl’s in-form side four goals to the good in the Midlands, with the England international following up Jannik Vestergaard’s early header and a pair of Beckham-esque James Ward-Prowse free-kicks.
It is fair to say few expected that the score line would be so close at full-time.
But thanks to a 30-minute Jack Grealish masterclass, Aston Villa made hearts beat a little faster on the south coast.
Tyrone Mings and Ollie Watkins pulled two back before Grealish whipped an ingenious effort into Alex McCarthy’s near post in stoppage time. If the game had been five minutes longer, Villa might just have secured the most remarkable of points.
“The second half we struggled more but this is normal, they have quality. You cannot defend for 90 minutes without them having good chances. In the end, very happy. Three good points for us,” said Hasenhuttl.
“Against a very strong side it was necessary to have more possession. We did not have this during the second half and this is why we were under pressure.
“This is the message of the game against an Aston Villa that never gave up with fantastic quality. It was very good work.”
A Southampton side who lost their first two games in 2020/21 are now fourth in the Premier League while Ward-Prowse has overtaken the legendary Matt Le Tissier, scoring the most free-kicks by any Saints player in the competition’s history.
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