SAINTS rued two disallowed goals as an uninspiring Aston Villa snuck out of St Mary’s with a 1-0 win and three Premier League points.

Both Che Adams and James Ward-Prowse had strikes ruled out in either half, which was itself interrupted by an unauthorised drone flying over the stadium.

Ollie Watkins returned from injury to start for Unai Emery’s side and dealt the decisive blow with another header from a set-piece – Saints have conceded more than any other team.

It meant Nathan Jones was not able to go one better than his predecessor – Ralph Hasenhuttl – and secure four consecutive wins for the first time since 2017.

Jones wanted continuity from the three wins in three that came before, and only made one change to his starting lineup in an attempt to facilitate that.

Adam Armstrong came in for Moi Elyounoussi – who had knee strapping on at Goodison Park – with a focus on Samuel Edozie and the Geordie to get in behind the full-backs.

Edozie was probably the most lively Saints player of the first half and was causing a few problems throughout.

Lyanco had picked up a yellow card inside just 12 minutes for a rash foul on the edge of the area – Aston Villa’s area – and had to play it safe to avoid disaster.

Saints thought they had opened the scoring when Adams bundled in from the Brazilian’s wicked cross – but it prompted a bit of confusion.

Kyle Walker-Peters made sure the rolling ball crossed the line and the linesman’s flag went up but, to spare the full-back’s blushes, they were both already offside.

That was not the end of the confusion for the half. Referee Michael Salisbury had to bring all the players off the field just before half-time.

Play was temporarily stopped due to a drone flying above the stadium and after over five minutes authorisation was eventually given to continue the fixture.

It took up to 60 minutes for Jones to make his first changes of the afternoon, opting for a triple personnel switch and a system change with a five-back defence.

He almost got instant vindication as Saints thought they had gone ahead for a second time, when Ward-Prowse’s deflected strike lofted over World Cup-winner Emi Martinez.

But, albeit soft, substitute Elyounoussi was adjudged the have fouled with a nudge and a trip on Jacob Ramsey in the area after Salisbury was called by VAR to review the footage on the monitor.

And Saints fans were left incensed as their team conceded a ninth set-piece of the season, Watkins heading in and just onside by a whisker as Lyanco followed his run.

Jones responded with two more changes as Mislav Orsic came on for six minutes as a Premier League debut, while Duje Caleta-Car made way to change tact again.

Sekou Mara went close with a header from a Moussa Djenepo cross and the Malian was then expertly denied by Martinez deep into four minutes of added time.

Saints: Bazunu; Lyanco, Caleta-Car (Djenepo, 84), Salisu, Walker-Peters; Lavia (Perraud, 60), Diallo, Ward-Prowse; A Armstrong (Orsic, 84), Edozie (Elyounoussi, 60), Adams (Mara, 60).

Unused subs: Maitland-Niles, Aribo, Alcaraz, Caballero (/k).

Booked: Lyanco

Aston Villa: Martinez; Young, Konsa, Mings, Moreno; Kamara, Luiz (Dendoncker, 87), Ramsey; Bailey (Cash, 81), Buendia (Coutinho, 69), Watkins.

Unused subs: Sanson, Chambers, Revan, Young, Sinisalo (g/k), Olsen (g/k).

Booked: Moreno.

Referee: Michael Salisbury.

VAR: Simon Hooper.

Attendance: 30,424.

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