Southampton's English striker Danny Ings (C) celebrates scoring their third goal during the English Premier League football match between Aston Villa and Southampton at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England on November 1, 2020.
Southampton weathered a late fightback from Aston Villa to take a 4-3 win in the English Premier League on Saturday as Villa suffered its second loss after a winning start to the season.
Southampton led 4-0 thanks to three goals from set pieces and a powerful long-range strike from Danny Ings. Villa seemed out of the game, even after Tyrone Mings made it 4-1 with a header, but scored twice more in stoppage time before running out of time to earn a draw.
Southampton has won four of its last five Premier League games after starting the 2020-21 campaign with three losses. Villa was the surprise early-season leader after winning its first four, but that run was ended in a 3-0 loss to fellow promoted team Leeds last week.
Southampton had a third-minute goal ruled out by VAR for offside but Jannik Vestergaard made up for it with a towering header from a free kick in the 20th minute to score the opening goal. Captain James Ward-Prowse scored the second and third goals in almost identical fashion, curling two free kicks into the top corner. Ings made it four early in the second half with a fierce drive from outside the penalty area.
Mings headed in the first of what turned out to be three consolation goals for Villa, before Ollie Watkins scored a stoppage-time penalty for his first goal since his hat-trick in the 7-2 win over Liverpool on Oct. 4. Jack Grealish added another in the seventh minute of added time.