1. Aston Villa’s central defence is one of their strongest departments
Aston Villa did not have centre-backs Philippe Senderos (calf), Nathan Baker (knee) and Ron Vlaar (calf) for this game, so Paul Lambert had to pair Ciaran Clark with Jores Okore, who had not played for Aston Villa in almost 15 months due to injury.
The Saints tried to expose that department by starting with two strikers operating through the middle but Clark and Okore kept the usually red-hot Graziano Pelle and Shane Long quiet. Clark deservedly won the man-of-the-match award and his partner Okore made some decisive blocks as well.
Baker and Clark formed a solid centre-back partnership earlier in the season when Villa enjoyed a good spell and Vlaar is probably Aston Villa’s best centre-half so despite lacking depth in other departments, Villa will have good competition in central defence once all their defenders are available.
2. Fraser Forster suffered the downside of goalkeeping for a good team
Prior to this game, Southampton had gone for 439 minutes of Premier League football without conceding due to their solid defence and that trend seemed likely to extend before Gabriel Agbonlahor scored.
Like most goalkeepers in good teams, Forster usually has the unenviable task of non-involvement in most parts of games before he is required to produce a brilliant save. Just before the half-hour mark he hesitated before deciding to go for Clark’s floated ball, which allowed Agbonlahor to pounce.
It is obviously not easy for goalkeepers to suddenly step up after a prolonged period of virtually spectating but Forster will need to develop that rare ability that the likes of Petr Cech and Manuel Neuer have in such moments.
3. Aston Villa finally rediscovered the offensive spontaneity they had in recent seasons
Paul Lambert’s side usually survive relegation primarily because of their offensive threat, which has masked the defensive problems they have had over the years. This season, the Villans have actually been better defensively but they could not recapture the counter-attacking threat they had before.
In this game though, Agbonlahor was always a danger with his pace on the break and he scored from Clark’s hasty clearance. Andreas Weimann almost scored from virtually nothing as well when he broke from his own half and linked up well with Agbonlahor before dispatching his shot wide.
Villa still have the pace and personnel in forward positions to hurt opponents on the break and if they can recapture that offensive threat while keeping their improvement at the back, they should do better this season.
4. Another lapse in concentration makes the hardworking Agbonlahor look like a defensive liability
This was the second consecutive home game that an opponent capitalised on Agbonlahor’s lapses in concentration to go on and score. When Tottenham visited Villa Park, Nacer Chadli scored from a corner kick after peeling away from a ball-watching Agbonlahor.
In this game, the Villa captain completed the game as a left midfielder, where he was tasked to track back with Nathaniel Clyne. Another lapse in concentration from Agbonlahor led to Southampton’s equaliser. In both games, Agbonlahor has worked harder than a typical striker would do defensively but these moments dent his defensive contributions.
5. Ronald Koeman will be more concerned with his side’s lack of quality in the final-third
Forster’s error will probably get more attention, but Koeman will probably be concerned with how his side performed in attacking areas. Dusan Tadic and Sadio Mane lacked their usual accuracy with their crosses and Southampton’s finishing was generally poor.
They have big games looming in which they will have fewer chances, so the Dutch manager will need an improvement in the final-third to sustain their strong start to the season.
