Saints had a phenomenal amount of possession but once again paid the price for individual error and lapses in concentration as they went down for the third game in a row.
If this game had been a boxing match it would have been stopped at half time, Villa were on the ropes and had survived by the skin of their teeth, the only problem for Saints was the fact that they were 1-0 up with just about their only real chance of the half.
Once again it was down to individual error, this time Yoshida's as what looked like an innocuous through ball caught him in two minds and let Agbonlahor in for a run on goal that saw Saints outnumbered but the Villa striker remain cool to slot it past Gazzaniga who stood no chance.
This should have been at best an equaliser though as Saints had had several fine chances beforehand, in fact the game had alreadyb had a moment of controversy, Guzan had slid out of his area and realising he was about to be dispossessed flicked the ball away with his hand, just about the only man in the ground not to see it though was referee Jonathan Moss who waved play on to concerted boo's from a crwod who hd just witnessed an appalling mistake by the referee, this moment was crucial in that Moss would have had to send Guzan off and it would have reduced Villa to 10 men early in the game.
Saints didnt play badly but paid the price as i warned for having ring rusty players out there, Yoshida in his first Premier appearance of the season was clearly not match fit in the sense that he wasnt mentally attuned to the speed of thought needed and like on too many occasions last season he let an otherwise reasonable display be marred by an appalling lapse in concentration.
Saints had plenty of chances though both in the first half and in the second when a great cross from Clyne picked out Rodriguez 3 minutes after the break and the number 9 showed his ability with his head and guided home a great header from around 12 yards.
This should hav sparked a Saints landslide, but once again they found themselves caught out from speed of thought, Cork had initially won a good challenge but then found himself disposessed and before he could do anything El Ahadmi had whipped in a cross that caught everyone unawares, after watching it on tv it was the type of cross that defences dread, just far enough out to keep the keeper from getting it and too far back for the central defender to win on the back foot, it was the speed of thought that caught us out and the accuracy, this meant that it was undefendable, Im sure that there will be some that feel otherwise and initially at the time I was disapointed in the goal, but it was superb thinking and delivery.
But 5 minutes later Saints were back in it, Fonte now on for Clyne put in a cross Terry Paine would have been proud of, right to the back post where Lambert was waiting as he usually was in the past few seasons, this was using Lambert's strengths and he headed it back across goal were once Osvaldo had reacted first he couldnt miss.
Once again and with 20 minutes left you felt there would only be one winner, but again we got caught on the counter attack, we backed off too far and Delph lashed in a shot from distance that few keepers would have stopped.
So for 77% possession and 21 shots on goal we only got 6 on target and scored twice, Villa on the other hand played us like a cheap violin, they only had 6 shots but 3 went in.
The problem is that teams have sussed our way of playing out, they sit back and let us press knowing that ultimately we just dont create enough true chances and then they catch us on the break, in his defence Pochettino did try to change things and use a plan B, but we arent having the luck of the green and the likes of Yoshida and Cork were found wanting at crucial moments, more to lack of game time and match fitness than anything else, Villa didnt do much in our half, but they knew what they had to do when they got the ball and executed it ruthlessly.
We on the other hand were allowed to pass it around around the half way line, but too many times we didnt have that cutting edge, given that when we got the ball into the area Lambert & Rodriguez aerial power caused problems we didnt use that enough and too many times Lambert was out wide right delivering the ball when to be blunt he should have been the target.
Our problem is that for all our possession we dont create enough true chances, 21 shots tells a story of the fact we had a lot of the ball, only 6 on target tells us that too many of these shots were no more than half chances that didnt trouble Guzan.
Perhaps the biggest dissapointment for me was the amount of ball Luke Shaw got on the left, but never truly took on his man, too many times he played the short sideways ball or even went back, when he did beat his man or got the room to cross he rarely put in a ball that caused a problem for the Villa defence, Shaw is a great defender and his pace gets him out of trouble at the back, but for some reason he seems loathe to use it going forward, he gets into the opposition half with ease, but cant seem to get the ball into the box as much as Clyne does on the other side with much less possession.
So a third defeat in a row and a worry for Saturday with the in form Manchester City heading our way, we need to halt this run of defeats fast, a draw with City would be good in the fact that we would halt that run, the problem is though this is a recurring theme, plenty of possession, plenty of shots, too few real chances and recently too many lapses in concentration, we have been found out a little, we need to get back to doing what we do best and re discover our form.