Aston Villa welcomed Newcastle United at Villa Park earlier today as they looked to pick up their first victory of this campaign. It took a lot of time for the Villans to break the Magpies defence down but they finally managed to score the opener courtesy of Danny Ings’ wonderful overhead kick in the first half injury-time.
The West Midlands side kept a solid shape in the second half and doubled their advantage in the 62nd minute via Anwar El Ghazi’s penalty. The contest ended with Dean Smith’s players securing an impressive 2-0 win in front of their home supporters.
Let’s take a look at how each Aston Villa player fared during the clash against the Magpies.
GK: Emiliano Martinez – 6.5/10
The Villa goalkeeper had just one save to make in the game and secured a comfortable clean sheet today.
RB: Matty Cash – 6.5/10
Cash hardly put a foot wrong in the game when defending inside his half but struggled to influence the game in the final third.
CB: Ezri Konsa – 7/10
Konsa was a rock at the back as he made multiple clearances to deny the Magpies any real chance for a goal.
CB: Tyrone Mings – 8/10
He marshalled the backline quite effectively and produced a solid performance on the defensive end of the pitch. He also picked up an assist for setting up Ings’ brilliant goal.
LB: Ashley Young – 6.5/10
Young used his experience well when defending inside his half and will be quite content with the clean sheet today.
CM: John McGinn – 7/10
McGinn produced another battling display at the centre of the park and created a few decent chances for his teammates in the final third.
CM: Douglas Luiz – 6.5/10
The Brazilian protected his backline quite well and was tidy with his passing. He got replaced in the 88th minute.
CM: Jacob Ramsey – 6.5/10
He kept the ball moving with conviction and made a few important clearances for his side as well.
LW: Anwar El Ghazi – 7/10
El Ghazi kept this calm to score his penalty which gave the Villans some breathing room in the latter stages of the game.
RW: Emiliano Buendia – 7/10
He made a couple of promising runs in the opposition half and engineered a few key opportunities for others around him.
ST: Danny Ings – 8/10
Ings stole the show with a wonderful overhead kick which gave the Villans the all-important lead just before the half-time interval.
Substitutes:
CM: Jaden Philogene-Bidace – N/A
He hardly had any time to make an impact.
CB: Axel Tuanzebe – N/A
Tuanzebe came on for the final few minutes.
ST: Wesley – N/A
He came off the bench to run the clock down.
