Southampton v Aston Villa: Ex-FIFA official reacts to contentious St Mary’s footage
Aston Villa recorded an important victory away at Southampton, but it was not as easy as the scoreline suggests for the visitors.
Southampton came into the game already relegated from the Premier League, with nothing to play for in the rest of this season.
Villa, meanwhile, are in the hunt for a Champions League spot, and this was the best way to recover from their 3-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals.
Goals from Ollie Watkins, Donyell Malen and John McGinn sealed the victory, but Villa did also miss two penalties, and the verdict on the award of the first one has now been given.
Keith Hackett verdict on first Aston Villa penalty v Southampton
Villa earned their first penalty of the game with the scored tied at 0-0, as Watkins was brought down in the box by Jan Bednarek.
The referee pointed to the spot, but Marco Asensio saw his penalty saved by Aaron Ramsdale.
Speaking exclusively to Aston Villa News, former FIFA referee Keith Hackett confirmed that referee Tom Bramall gave the right decision when awarding the penalty.
| Stat | Asensio |
| Appearances | 13 |
| Goals | 8 |
| Assists | 1 |
“Good decision by the referee to award a penalty kick,” Hackett stated.
Asensio then missed from the spot again later on, with Ramsdale pulling off another save, but McGinn was on hand to finish from the rebound.
Watkins must return to Aston Villa starting XI
The first penalty was awarded as Watkins was felled in the box, and this was just two minutes after he came on for Marcus Rashford as a substitute.
Watkins then opened the scoring with an outstanding finish shortly after, in a game-winning cameo appearance from the striker.
The England international was dropped for the last two games with Rashford leading the line, but he has shown that he should be the one starting upfront as Villa welcome PSG for the second leg of their Champions League tie.
Rashford was underwhelming again, while Watkins has been a reliable performer for a long time, and his appearance at St Mary’s showed that he is more capable of leading the line and providing the game-changing moments.