Gerrard 'really proud' as Aston Villa 'fight' to edge ahead of Southampton 'pragmatically'

Steven Gerrard was pleased with the performance of his Aston Villa players as they saw off Southampton to win 1-0 at Villa Park.

The Villans have been criticized at the start of the season. Before Friday night's game, they had won just one game in six at the start of the 2022/23 campaign.

Last time out, they enjoyed a boost of confidence when they scored a point in a 1-1 draw with Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.

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Villa took control of their clash against Southampton before the break as Jacob Ramsey smashed the ball from inside the penalty area to make it 1-0.

That goal proved enough for the hosts to pick up all three points as Aston Villa and Southampton played out a very boring game.

The win lifts Gerrard's side to 13th in the standings, as they are now level on seven points with the Saints.

The Villa boss admitted after the match that his side's performance 'was neither pretty nor elegant', but they won 'in a pragmatic way':

"It's a big win. It wasn't pretty or elegant, but given our position in the league, we knew we had to do it in a pragmatic way," Gerrard told BBC Sports.

"I'm really proud of the effort, dedication and commitment of the boys.

"We played better than last time. In football you have to fight, fight and commit and we worked hard today.

"We will improve in terms of style and possession and that will come, but tonight was about the points.

"We had to confirm our performance against Manchester City and we had a lot of eyes on TV, but we did it."

On Villa's clean sheet: "That's how you build consistency by defending your box well. I have sometimes criticized this group and the details of the defense, but today there was a lot of body in play today.

"We may have tried to force it a bit tonight, but as we progress through the table, maybe that's when the pretty things will happen.

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"It was a difficult period but I wanted to move forward and protect my players. I tried to fight and move up in this ranking.

"We've taken a lot of criticism and it's about reacting and that's what we did tonight."

Villans captain John McGinn added after the game that the win "felt good" even if it "didn't look good":

"It's huge. We've been criticized this season for not grafting but tonight we fought for every ball. It wasn't pretty but it feels good," McGinn said.

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"If I was watching TV, I would have turned it off. We transplant week after week but it's a waste if we don't play at the weekend. I'm delighted with players like Phil [Coutinho] who have proven that people were wrong with good performances tonight.

"We haven't been in great form. We don't click and create enough chances but tonight when we scored the goal we stayed strong. We limited the Saints to very few of chances and it's a huge victory before the international break.

"I was dreading going to Scotland with a draw or a loss, so it will make the trip a little more enjoyable."