Southampton goalscorer Stuart Armstrong admitted feeling a sense of relief when he picked out the empty net from a last-gasp breakaway to seal maximum points against Aston Villa at St Mary’s.
Saints were always the team in control, but still only had Shane Long’s early opener to show for their dominance as the game entered the depths of stoppage time.
Cue a lung-busting run from Armstrong as Villa’s veteran keeper Pepe Reina left his goal unguarded as he sent himself up for a late corner, prompting Saints to counter and the Scot to finish things off from an exquisite cross-field pass by substitute Ché Adams.
“There was a lot of time to think about it, which sometimes isn’t a good thing," he said. "I just had to hit it as firmly as I could and hope it went in.
“It was a sense of relief. I think we knew we’d dominated the game and deserved to win, but sometimes in the past we’ve not quite got those three points.
“To get that second goal to see it through is very important for us now and I’m sure it’ll be very important when the league is all said and done.
“They (Villa) had a few half-chances that we should’ve been a bit tidier on, but I think from start to finish we were consistent, we played the ball well, we controlled the game a lot at times and got what we deserved in the end.
“In games like this it’s always important to take your chances and make sure you put the game to bed as quickly as you can, because you know it’s the Premier League and teams can come back at you – we’ve seen that before. It’s about being patient and seeing it through.”
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