Aston Villa 1-0 Southampton: Duran seals back-to-back wins for Emery´s side

Jhon Duran scored the only goal as Aston Villa edged out the Premier League’s bottom side Southampton 1-0.

The Colombian’s first-half strike was enough to seal a hard-fought win for Unai Emery’s side, who climbed to fifth in the table after back-to-back victories at Villa Park.

Villa, who ended an eight-match winless streak across all competitions with victory over Brentford on Wednesday, broke through in the 24th minute.

Duran – making his first Premier League start of the season – stole possession from Taylor Harwood-Bellis and burst away from Nathan Wood, before bending the ball into the net.

Southampton could not respond, failing to register a single shot on target, as their winless streak on the road in the top flight stretched to 15 matches.

With Brighton and Fulham not playing until Sunday – and Nottingham Forest in action later on Saturday – Villa leapfrogged the trio to fifth place on 25 points – 20 more than their opponents, who remain seven adrift at the foot of the table.

Successive Premier League victories at Villa Park in a week#AVLSOU || #UpTheVilla pic.twitter.com/z7ghCye3g7

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 7, 2024

Data Debrief: A rare clean sheet for Villa

Villa’s first Premier League home win without conceding since a 2-0 victory over Wolves in March moves them to within two points of the top four.

It was only a second clean sheet in 20 league games for Emery’s side, who are unbeaten in their 12 matches against promoted teams under the Spaniard.

Duran settled the contest with his sixth goal from outside the box since the start of last season, a tally only bettered in the Premier League by Manchester City’s Phil Foden (eight).

Following their latest setback, Southampton are just the fourth side to have five or fewer points after 15 games in a Premier League season, after Sunderland (five in 2005-06), and Sheffield United twice (five in 2023-24 and two in 2020-21).