Kings of the Scummers

This result sees us move up a place to 17th, leapfrogging Villa who drop to 18th after a fourth consecutive defeat. We arrived at Villa Park having been in the bottom three in seven of the last eight weeks but deserved their victory after controlling the game from start to finish.

Ings opened the scoring, tapping in from close range after Shane Long's initial effort was saved by Villa keeper Tom Heaton. And Long could have added a second before Jack Stephens met James Ward-Prowse's corner to double Saints' lead with a towering header into the bottom right corner. Ings punished Marvelous Nakamba's loose control to add Southampton's third.

The celebrations at Villa Park at the end with Ralph were something to treasure.