Aston Villa 2 – 0 Newcastle
Good to be back
There was huge excitement at Villa Park following a year or so of empty stadiums due to lockdown. The sale of our Talisman Grealish didn’t dampen the spirits, neither did the 3-2 loss at Watford last week. What we did have was a sell-out crowd, which some of the Villains wouldn’t have experienced before.
Most concerning was the absence of our new signing Leon Bailey who produced a brilliant cameo at Watford last week. Ollie Watkins and Bertrand Traore were already doubts so their loss was anticipated. Targett was left on the bench with Young taking his place at left back.
First Half
The first half started pretty brightly for both teams, the referee allowing a number of tackles to go unpunished. It was one of these waved-on tackles after 5 minutes which saw Wilson one-on-one with Martinez, he just had to score… But he didn’t, he put it wide of the post, to huge cheers from the crowd. To be fair, it was a pretty quiet half apart from Murphy diving in the box and being lambasted by Young. Villa began to get into the ascendency, but without creating any real chances.
Then, with only a few seconds left in the half, Cash collected the ball from the ball-boy and launched a long throw into the box. Mings outjumped two defenders to flick on for Danny Ings to fire an overhead kick home. It was spectacular and had the home fans rocking, right on the stroke of halftime.
Embed from Getty ImagesSecond Half
The second half began brightly for both teams, but with Vills playing towards the Holte end, they began to look threatening. In the 59th minute, Villa won a free-kick on the left deep inside Newcastle territory. McGinn swung the ball over for Konsa to head back across the box. Mings headed the ball from 6 yards hitting Lascelles and bouncing clear, McGinn fired well over the bar. BUT, the referee stopped play as he’d been notified by VAR of a possible penalty.
Penalty
Referee Coote was told to go and look at the monitor for a possible handball. A buzz went around Villa Park while we waited. Penalty! Would Ings get his second penalty in two games? Not a chance, El Ghazi already had hold of the ball while the Newcastle players surrounded the Ref. When the time came, he simply smashed it home, there was never any doubt about him scoring, he’s pretty confident.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith Villa 2 – 0 up, Newcastle finally began to put on the pressure, Villa were not having it all their own way anymore.
Super VAR
In the 76th minute, Wilson chased after a through ball and was clattered by Martinez. The referee pointed to the spot immediately, it was a stonewall penalty. Martinez was booked for a reckless challenge, to be fair he was lucky not to see red. But, again referee Coote was told to hold up play by VAR as they were checking for offside.
No Penalty! By the slimmest of margins, Wilson was deemed to be offside so the penalty decision was reversed. Villa got away with one there… At this point, Bruce decided to change things around a bit and bring on Joelinton for a defender. But it was all too little too late. Final score Villa 2 – 0 Newcastle.
Final Thoughts
Villa were well worth the win in the end, but it could have been so much different had Wilson scored in the 5th minute. Ashley Young rolled back the years with a fine mature performance at left-back, it might be difficult for Targett to displace him. Danny Ings is a quality goalscorer, he’s got two in two games (yes I know the first was a penalty) and I can see him getting a lot more for us. Buendia needs some time to settle in. I’m not sure where Dean Smith sees his ideal position yet. He’s not an out-and-out winger as he doesn’t have the pace and tends to drift into the centre. As a result we sometimes lost a bit of width. But this will come.
Finally, I think Austin MacPhee our new set-piece coach needs to be mentioned. It can be no coincidence that both our goals came about as the result of set pieces. I hope this continues, we were woeful at corners last season.
Teams
Villa: Martinez 
, Young, Konsa, Mings, McGinn, Luiz (Tuanzebe 88), J Ramsey, Buendia (Philogene-Bidace 86), El Ghazi 
, Ings (Wesley 90+1)
Subs: Nakamba, Hourihane, Hause, Targett, Steer, Chukwuemeka
Newcastle: Woodman, Lascelles, Ritchie, Fernandez (Joelinton 78), Schar , Murphy , Willock (Fraser 90), Almiron, Hayden (Longstaff 45), Saint-Maximin, Wilson
Subs: Lewis, Gillespie, Gayle, Clarke, Hendrick, Krafth