Michael Beale shares brilliant Philippe Coutinho message after Aston Villa thrash Southampton

Aston Villa secured back-to-back wins in the Premier League for this first time since November after following up a 2-0 win over Brighton by thrashing Southampton at Villa Park.

The 4-0 victory has put Villa within a place of the top 10, with Crystal Palace a position above them only on goal difference.

Ollie Watkins opened the scoring with his second goal in as many games before Douglas Luiz doubled the lead in the final minutes of the first half.

After passing up on a number of opportunities to bag goals before the interval, Philippe Coutinho finally got in on the act in the second half. Danny Ings then rounded off the scoring before the hour mark, but elected not to celebrate against his former employers.

Villa boss Steven Gerrard said Coutinho was starting to show the sort of form which tempted Barcelona to smash their transfer record to sign him from Liverpool four years ago.

And Gerrard's assistant coach, Michael Beale, took to social media to react to Villa's 4-0 win and celebrate Coutinho's stunning performance.

Accompanied with a photograph of Coutinho scoring his goal, Beale said on Twitter: "O Mágico! Great win - we owed you that one at Villa Park. Enjoy your weekend #UTV"

Villa travel to Elland Road on Thursday in search of their third straight win in the Premier League, before then visiting the London Stadium to face West Ham next Sunday.