Aston Villa faced off against Newcastle United at St. James’ Park earlier this afternoon as they hoped to grind out a result on the road. The Villans were solid in the first half but conceded the opening goal in the first half injury-time when Callum Wilson scored from the penalty spot. The West Midlands club were trailing 1-0 at the half-time break.
Wilson doubled Newcastle’s advantage in the 56th minute before Joelinton killed the game off just three minutes later. Miguel Almiron put the final nail in Aston Villa’s coffin in the 67th minute when he scored with a brilliant effort. The contest ended with Unai Emery’s men suffering a poor 4-0 loss away from home.
Let’s take a look at how each Aston Villa player fared during the contest against the Magpies.
GK: Emiliano Martinez – 6.5/10
The Argentine keeper made a solid start to the game but got replaced in the 34th minute.
RB: Matty Cash – 6/10
Cash had a tough game defensively but made one good run with the ball down the right flank.
CB: Ezri Konsa – 6/10
He made a handful of important clearances inside his half but didn’t do nearly enough to keep the Newcastle attackers quiet.
CB: Tyrone Mings – 6/10
Mings earned the ball back a few times but was quite untidy when passing the ball from the back.
LB: Ashley Young – 6/10
Young had to do a lot of defending but offered very little going forward.
CM: Leander Dendoncker – 6/10
Dendoncker made a couple of crucial interceptions but failed to get a stranglehold in the game at the centre of the park.
CM: Douglas Luiz – 5.5/10
He got stuck in with some solid tackles but lacked quality on the ball.
RW: Ollie Watkins – 6/10
Watkins had a couple of bright moments in the match but failed to threaten the opposition goal.
CAM: Emiliano Buendia – 6/10
The Argentine talent was not shy of having a strike at goal but never looked like he would score today.
LW: Leon Bailey – 5.5/10
He had a couple of lively moments in the game but never got a sniff at goal.
ST: Danny Ings – 6/10
Ings had a quiet game on the attacking end of the field. He did well to last the whole 90 minutes.
Substitutes:
GK: Robin Olsen – 5/10
Olsen ended up conceding four goals during his time on the pitch.
LW: Philippe Coutinho – 6/10
He failed to influence the game in the final third.
CM: Jacob Ramsey – 6/10
Ramsey offered very little after coming on at the hour mark.
LB: Lucas Digne – 6/10
The Frenchman failed to make an impact going forward.
CM: John McGinn – 6/10
He earned the ball back once.
