National media all say the same thing about Philippe Coutinho and Aston Villa

Aston Villa ran riot at Villa Park yesterday afternoon to give Steven Gerrard his biggest win as Villa manager and also their first win at home against Southampton since 2004.

The win was orchestrated by their in form loan signing, Philippe Coutinho, who Gerrard believes is once again displaying the world class talents that led to him becoming the third most expensive player of all time when signing for Barcelona for £142 million.

Villa opened the scoring through Ollie Watkins in the first half and then doubled their lead just before the break, as Coutinho set his Brazilian counterpart Douglas Luiz up with a simple pass across the face of goal.

Gerrard's men dominated from start to finish and could have had several more to their tally, after Watkins saw an effort well saved and Coutinho slotted a chance just wide of the far post.

The misses thankfully didn't cost them in this game, as they cruised to a comfortable 4-0 win in arguably the most impressive performances of the season for this squad. Here is a roundup of the national media and what they have to say on the win.

The third-most expensive footballer can be an incongruous presence in a mid-table meeting but he illuminated this one. If the £142m fee Barcelona paid Liverpool for Philippe Coutinho suggested his talents belonged on grander stages, he graced this, gliding and ghosting around, confounding and eluding Southampton.

They had held both Manchester clubs on an unbeaten run that spanned seven games but was ended emphatically by Coutinho. Danny Ings' first reunion with his former club proved his most productive afternoon for his new employers, yielding two assists and a goal, but the architect of Steven Gerrard’s biggest victory as Aston Villa manager was