Aston Villa's plight near the foot of the Premier League deteriorated further when they lost to Southampton, their fellow relegation strugglers, at a freezing Villa Park. A controversial first-half penalty settled the issue and Villa, despite a furious late rally, rarely looked like improving on their wretched home form. Villa perhaps thought that they had turned the corner with a 2-1 victory, albeit unconvincing, over Ipswich Town in the FA Cup third round the previous weekend. Not so. Embarrassment lay just around the corner and, on Tuesday night, they succumbed 3-1 to Bradford City, of League 2, in the first leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final.
All may not be lost for Villa, with a second leg to come on 22January. But with Paul Lambert, their manager, admitting to sleepless nights after the debacle at Valley Parade, their is clearly concern in the camp. Not least, prior to Southampton's visit, because of a desperate haul of only 10 points from 11 league matches.
Lambert will have been concerned also with Villa's poor start in the numbing cold at Villa Park. Christian Benteke may have provided an early threat, when driving wide, but it was Southampton who generally dominated an open first half. After Jay Rodriguez had cut in and crossed into the middle, Ciaran Clark was fortunate to deflect the ball into the arms of his grateful goalkeeper, Brad Guzan.
Rodriguez was proving hard to contain and, from a Jason Puncheon cross, he glanced a header narrowly wide. It was then the turn of Luke Shaw, the marauding left back, to give it a go for Southampton, powering in a low angled attempt that fizzed across the face of the goal with Guzan struggling to reach it.
Little was seen of Villa up front. Benteke ploughed a lone furrow and was given little support. Not surprisingly, it was Southampton who made the breakthrough, but in controversial circumstances that once again brought the contentious "diving" issue into the spotlight.
A frenzied scramble in the home area saw Guzan appear to pull down Puncheon. No penalty, referee Mark Halsey ruled. Seconds later, Rodriguez fell under the challenge of Enda Stevens. Although there appeared to be little or no contact, Halsey, this time, pointed to the spot. Rickie Lambert comfortably tucked in the penalty, sending Guzan the wrong way, to continue his blemish-free record from 12 yards. It was the 29th converted penalty of his career and also his ninth goal of the season. Villa improved in the second half but Benteke missed a host of chances, especially in a frenzied finale, and Puncheon could have doubled Southampton's lead when his powerful shot hit the crossbar. Nathan Baker also nodded against the bar for Villa in the closing minutes.
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