Coutinho stars as rampant Villa beat Southampton

Philippe Coutinho ran the show as Aston Villa easily overcame Southampton 4-0 at Villa Park.

Villa manager Steven Gerrard spoke recently about wanting to play two strikers as he preferred to have his goal scorers on the pitch rather than the bench and that positive approach really paid off against a timid Saints side.

Ollie Watkins gave the hosts the perfect start after opening the scoring just nine minutes in - his second goal in a week after netting in his team's 2-0 win at Brighton last weekend - after Coutinho and Danny Ings had linked up well in the buildup.

That early opener gave Villa the confidence to attack in numbers, which they did at will, with the increasingly busy Fraser Forster doing well to prevent Watkins from scoring a second, before the home side did double their lead a minute before the break after another wonderful team goal.

Calum Chambers, on the edge of the box, split the Saints defence with a cleverly judged lofted ball for Coutinho, who then found Douglas Luiz five yards out. The midfielder finished to put Villa in control at the break.

Two goals in two minutes at the start of the second half then ended the game as a contest as first Coutinho, with the help of a slight deflection through Forster's legs, got the goal his all-around play deserved seven minutes into the second half.

Then Ings, who only moments earlier had been denied by Forster, found the net against his former club with a well-struck volley after being picked out by Matty Cash's cutback.

Steven Gerrard's team move up to 11th in the Premier League and sit just two points behind their opponents in ninth.

Aston Villa will return to Premier League action on Thursday 10 March at 7.45pm when they play Leeds, while Southampton will face