Aston Villa suffered a bitterly disappointing 3-1 defeat to Newcastle Utd at home on Tuesday night, ending our unbeaten run at Villa Park.
In a really poor opening 45 minutes, the visitors were two goals ahead at the break as Villa struggled to get going, with our struggles in attack continuing while we looked vulnerable defensively and were duly punished.
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After conceding a third in the second half, an Ollie Watkins consolation goal temporarily lifted spirits and provided hope of an unlikely comeback, but that quickly diminished as we fell to a frustrating and concerning loss.
Unai Emery will meticulously analyse this performance with his players, but our level has undoubtedly dipped in the last four games. Solutions are now needed to bounce back from this and get back on track as we continue to struggle to rediscover the form we showed last month.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Newcastle Utd:
Emi Martinez, 6 – Will be so frustrated with the defending in front of him for the goals, as little he could have done to prevent them. Produced some fine saves through the course of the game to keep the scoreline down.
Matty Cash, 5 – Energetic and industrious, but lacks quality in attacking areas to make the difference consistently. Offers a threat when he gets forward, but his overall play in possession needs to improve as we need better on that right flank.
Ezri Konsa, 5 – Will be frustrated with the first goal as it was all too easy for Schar as he wasn’t physically imposing enough with his challenge. The defence as a unit continued to struggle with Newcastle’s tactics of going long over the top into the channels.
Clement Lenglet, 5.5 – Marked up slightly for making two excellent blocks that appeared to prevent more goals, but similarly to Konsa, we weren’t strong enough defensively and conceded soft goals.
Alex Moreno, 5 – Unfortunate with the own goal, but he’s still not quite hitting his best form yet. Can see signs of improvement, but his touch is letting him down and not decisive when he gets into promising attacking positions.
John McGinn, 6 – One of only a few who played with any real authority in the game. Imposed himself physically and covered a lot of ground to try and give us a foothold, but didn’t get the support around him to make it more impactful. Should have scored just before half-time though, but headed his effort over.
Boubacar Kamara, 6 – Gave a few fouls away before being booked, but was an important presence in midfield as he tried to link things together while disrupting Newcastle’s play through the middle.
Douglas Luiz, 5.5 – Still our most creative outlet in midfield with his vision and passing, but it’s all too safe and lacking a cutting edge right now. Further, he has to work harder to escape pressure to make himself an option for the defenders so that we can start playing our way through the lines and advance up the pitch with direction and rhythm.
Youri Tielemans, 5 – Found pockets of space and had the vision to play passes through, but his execution was off and we needed better. Struggled in wider areas to help us control the game, and was eventually replaced as we tried to find a way back into it.
Moussa Diaby, 4 – His current form and confidence level were summed up with his attempted pass in the first half instead of taking a clear shot on. Perhaps needs a stint out of the team to regroup, as he’s been poor for a while now and it isn’t clicking for him, while we need more of an impact in the final third.
Ollie Watkins, 6 – Took his goal well and almost had a second but was judged to be offside. Too quiet in the first half as we didn’t pose any real threat, but grew into the game and showed better movement and intent to start causing the Newcastle defence problems.
Substitutes:
Leon Bailey, 7.5 – Brilliant after his introduction, as he showed high-level skill, urgency and quality to not only provide the assist for Watkins’ goal, but then carve out further openings as he almost dragged us back into the game single-handedly.
Nicolo Zaniolo, 5 – Showed some fight and energy to try and get us on the front foot, but didn’t add much in the way of attacking quality. Booked late on after displaying a bit too much aggression.
Jacob Ramsey, 5.5 – Similar to Zaniolo in that he helped us gain a foothold in the latter stages, but without ever really providing a direct threat in the final third.
