Southampton came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at St Mary's on Saturday.
The home side started the match is a positive fashion, with Dusan Tadic, Graziano Pelle and Jose Fonte all coming close to opening the scoring during the first half.
However it was Joleon Lescott who put Villa ahead somewhat against the run of play, following a corner right on the stroke of half-time.
Oriol Romeu put the home side back on level terms with 17 minutes remaining to ensure Southampton remain within touching distance of a Europa League spot.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Southampton: 1 (Oriol Romeu 73')
Aston Villa: 1 (Joleon Lescott 44')
St Mary's, Swansea – 29,645
TALKING POINTS
Southampton had 64% of possession against Villa and fired 23 shots at goal, but were wasteful when presented with clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities, which ultimately cost them two points.
Villa have now gone 14 Premier League matches without a win and are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table with safety from relegation slipping further away as each week goes by.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Southampton travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace on Saturday, while Aston Villa host Arsenal at Villa Park on Sunday.
TWITTER INSIGHT
Gutted not to pick up the 3pts but a good result on the road for the boys! Fight till the end. Utv
— Micah Richards (@MicahRichards) December 5, 2015Little rusty after a long time with no games, but great to be back on the pitch and a fantastic team effort to get a tough point away
— Jores Okore (@JoresOkore) December 5, 2015Very happy for my first goal with this shirt but a shame to have left a win to escape! #GoSaints@SouthamptonFCpic.twitter.com/O9kX1Bdtbg
— Oriol Romeu (@OriolRomeu) December 5, 2015
QUOTES CORNER
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman was unhappy picking up just a point against the league's cellar dwellers:
"Normally you don't sign up for one point at home, but it's a point. We made it difficult for ourselves. We had three or four big chances to score and then we concede. For the first time in maybe two seasons we conceded such a soft goal from a corner."
Aston Villa manager Remi Garde was pleased with his side's performance:
"It is a big point. We have suffered a lot, Southampton created many chances and we were under pressure for long periods. But we showed a very good spirit. I'm happy about that.
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
3 - The last meeting between Southampton and Aston Villa saw Sadio Mané net the quickest hat-trick in PL history (2m 56s). Memories.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 5, 2015
TEAM LEADERS
Goals - Graziano Pelle 6
Assists - Sadio Mane 6
Clean sheets - Maarten Stekelenburg 5
Yellow cards - Graziano Pelle 5
Red cards - Sadio Mane, Victor Wanyama 1
Goals - Jordan Ayew, Rudy Gestede 3
Assists - Jordan Amavi, Jordan Veretout, Gabby Agbonlahor 2
Clean sheets - Brad Guzan 2
Yellow cards - Ciaran Clark 4
