Aston Villa made it back-to-back wins in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon as they defeated Southampton 1-0 at Villa Park.
Unai Emery’s side lost 3-0 at Chelsea last weekend but bounced back with a 3-1 home victory over Brentford in midweek.
It was not one of Villa’s finest performances. Jhon Duran’s goal in the 24th minute proved to be the difference between the two teams.
Unai Emery praises Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran
It was Duran’s first goal in the Premier League since September, and his Villa manager Emery was impressed with the way he took it.
When asked about Duran’s goal, Emery said, as quoted on BBC Sport: “Fantastic goal and the action, fighting in the duel with the centre back and how he beat him and scored with a great shot.”
Duran, who signed a new contract with Villa in October, could have added to his tally. He took three shots, had a pass accuracy of 76.9% and won one header, according to WhoScored.
The Colombia international striker had 20 touches of the ball, won two tackles and put in one cross.
Leon Bailey suffers injury against Southampton
While Villa fans will be pleased with the three points against Southampton, they will be disappointed with the injury suffered by Leon Bailey.
Bailey started against Southampton but came off in the 59th minute. According to Emery, Bailey will not play against RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.
“I think he will be out, hopefully not a lot of weeks, but Tuesday I don’t think he will be available,” Emery added. “We have to try and use our other players and give them chances. It’s a hamstring issue.”
Bailey did not take a shot and had a pass accuracy of 100% against Southampton. The winger had 28 touches and put in four crosses.
