Southampton 4 Aston Villa 1 - match report
Darren Bent scored his first goal of the season but Aston Villa suffered a second-half capitulation as Southampton thrashed them at St Mary's.
Villa were marginally the better team in the first half and held a one-goal advantage thanks to Bent's awareness to finish from close range in the 36th minute.
But the Saints roared back after the break and deservedly picked up their first Premier League win of the campaign thanks to two goals from Rickie Lambert – one from the penalty spot – a Nathaniel Clyne strike and a Ciaran Clark own goal.
Villa boss Paul Lambert made one change from the side which claimed a 2-0 win over Swansea as £7m signing Christian Benteke was handed his first start in place of Andreas Weimann who dropped to the bench.
Gaston Ramirez was presented with a good shooting opportunity in the 18th minute but snatched at his shot while Southampton captain Adam Lallana attempted a spectacular overhead kick 10 minutes later which Brad Guzan gathered comfortably.
Villa opened up the Saints defence in the 34th minute when Brett Holman turned cleverly on the touchline and sent Stephen Ireland scurrying down the right.
Ireland's early cross had been intended for either Benteke or Bent but went beyond the pair to Barry Bannan and he sliced a first-time volley wide.
It proved to be a warning shot from the visitors who broke the deadlock moments later when Bannan's high cross found Bent who saw his header only half-cleared by Southampton defender Jose Fonte.
Ireland latched on to the loose ball and miscued a bouncing shot towards goal which the arch predator Bent was able to direct past the dive of Southampton keeper Paulo Gazzaniga from close range.
Villa almost doubled their lead shortly after half-time when Benteke picked out Bent on the left edge of the box with a brilliant cross-field pass, but Gazzaniga narrowed the angle to block the England international's shot.
Benteke, whose aerial presence was a constant thorn in the Saints defence, then went close when he powerfully headed over from a Bannan corner.
The Saints made Villa pay for their profligacy in the 58th minute when the visitors defence allowed a fizzing ball from Lallana to find striker Lambert on the edge of the box, and he showed quick feet before he struck a powerful low shot past Guzan into the bottom-left corner of the net.
Southampton's equaliser seemed to suck the life out of Villa and the hosts were in front five minutes later after a well-crafted goal which owed to brilliant deft pass from Ramirez.
Lambert fed the ball into who Clyne who played a one-two with Ramirez and then burst into the box to strike a low shot past Guzan.
The home side were now in the ascendency and added a third in the 72nd minute after Lambert slid the ball into the path of Puncheon on the left side of the six-yard box. Puncheon cut back on to his right foot and curled the ball – via a Clark deflection – beyond Guzan from a tight angle.
Southampton put the icing on the cake in injury time when they were awarded a penalty after Guzan brought down Emmanuel Mayuka in a one-on-one situation.
Saints striker Lambert stepped up and smashed the resulting spot-kick into the bottom-left corner of the net past the despairing dive of Guzan.
By Timothy Abraham