Fixtures
- Aston Villa Vs. Southampton – Sat, Dec 7th 2024, 15:00
John McGinn was pleased to have secured both three points and a clean sheet, after Aston Villa defeated Southampton 1-0 at Villa Park.
Unai Emery’s side claimed the victory in a scrappy encounter in B6 thanks to Jhon Durán’s first-half strike.
McGinn admitted adverse weather conditions made the clash even more difficult on home turf, and that the three points were the most important thing.
He said: “Something that’s not come along, both together, in a while [win and clean sheet].
“We had to grind it out, today. Not as fluent as the other night in the first half, but the conditions were awful.
“Full credit to everyone coming out today. My dad even had to cancel because of the trains, so we know how hard it was for everyone to get here today.
“The conditions were difficult. Even in the warm-up, hard to control the ball, hard to judge where it was going, and actually, it was against us for both halves, which was strange.
“I lost the toss, they had the wind behind them in the first half and the wind behind them in the second, which made it a bit trickier.
“But it was a battle, and what we did do was battle, and that’s the least we could ask for.”
Against a Saints side which edged the ball possession stats, the Villans created ample opportunities to snatch a second goal after the break.
Despite feeling his side could and should have been out of sight, McGinn praised the bravery and resilience of his teammates.
“We certainly could’ve scored a couple more, I think,” the Scotsman added.
“A few of us are walking away thinking ‘how have I not scored today?’, but the main thing is three points, two wins in a row, two important wins, and it gets us back in the mix.
“Southampton are always brave. They have a style of play, they believe in it, and nothing will ever budge them from that, so even in the 95th minute, you know they’re going to create chances.
“We had to be solid, we had to be brave and had to stand up today, roll our sleeves up and get stuck in a bit, which we did.
“We managed the game well, and the only thing we could’ve probably done more is put the ball in the net.
“But, 1-0, we’d have taken it before the game all day, and a big three points.”
