Aston Villa 4–1 Newcastle United Player Ratings: Aston Villa Thrash The Magpies at Home in Premier League

The atmosphere was electric at Villa Park for the encounter between Aston Villa and Newcastle. Coming into the match, Aston Villa have won nine out of their last ten matches, and Newcastle has won their last six matches; for this reason, it was difficult to pick favourites for the match. The temperature at Vila Park was thirteen degrees Celsius. However, things were heated on the ground as it was filled with cards.

Aston Villa made three changes ahead of the match, and they fielded themselves in the 4-2-3-1 setup, and Newcastle had an unchanged winning side playing in the 4-3-3 formation. One thing was sure before the match: both teams would give their blood and soul towards the game to get the three points and keep the streak alive and active.

Villa got the ball rolling, and it was an aggressive offensive approach seen from their side from the very first touch. Just seconds after the whistle, precisely just 33 seconds after the referee blew the whistle and started the game, Ollie Watkins registered a goal for the hosts, giving them a huge sight of fortune. Just a couple of minutes later, he again travelled forward with the ball and made a spectacular shot which, to his agony, hit the crossbar.

However, the game was far from over, and there was a fire burning inside the Newcastle players to come back into the game. With this mentality, they managed to find the equaliser from the services of none other than Schär squeezed the ball through Martinez through a brilliant header.

Now, once again, Aston Villa started attacking, and this time the defenders stood calm and composed. The keeper also stood strong as a rock, blocking multiple shots at point range. The game further progressed with both teams making some constant attacks, but the defence prevailed over the attackers, and at half time the score was level.

In the second half, the game began with much increased vigour as Aston Villa kept knocking on the door multiple times, and most of the time it was saved by the Newcastle defenders and keeper. Tonali even made a goal-line clearance to keep the game even. However, when the Newcastle players refused to open the knocked door, Villa decided to break it, and in the sixty-fifth minute, Villa once again scored from the services of Maatsen, doubling their delight.

Later, they scored two more goals from the services of Burn (OG) and Onana, sealing a comfortable victory of 4-1 in the Premier League. Here are the Aston Villa vs Newcastle United Player Ratings.

Aston Villa Player Ratings

GK – Emiliano Martínez – 7/10

Though his positioning was weak when Newcastle scored the first goal, he later compensated for his mistake by making multiple stunning saves. Other than that, he had some routine saves and clearances. In the second half, he got his fingertips in some important instances to keep his team in the advantage

LB – Ian Maatsen – 8/10

Scored the second goal for his team by lurking in the box and making proper finishing when he was given the chance, doubling the delight for his team. Was key in winning multiple ground duels and covering Murphy and Guimarães, making them purposeless. He was one key reason why the opponent wingers were unable to make any progress.

CB – Ezri Konsa – 5.5/10

Did very poorly defensively as the player, along with Mings, left some space for the opponents to infiltrate through. But as the keeper and the other players remained strong, their inability to defend was not reflected much. Was involved in some duels, and the player was successful in none of them.

CB – Tyrone Mings – 6/10

Only had a decent passing accuracy. Apart from that, he had almost zero contributions in the defence. Did not win most of the duels, failed to make any tackles or interceptions. His height came as an advantage as he was able to win some aerial duels for his team.

RB – Matty Cash – 6/10

Properly planned a set piece and made an on-target shot in the first quarter of the match, running past all the defenders. While coming to his role as a full back, he failed to stop his target man, Barnes, from infiltrating the fortress built by Newcastle.

CM – Youri Tielemans – 7.8/10

Won the long ball, which came from Tonali, and exceptionally provided the ball to Watkins, which gave his team an early advantage. He was having a stroke of luck as some of the potential fouls made by him were not called by the referee. He was under the mic of the commentators every two to three minutes as he was seen everywhere on the pitch

CM – Boubacar Kamara – 7/10

Had a key role in providing accurate passes to his teammates in the midfield. Helped to craft play from the midfield third. It was also helpful as he made some interceptions and tackles for his team, giving an all-around performance.

LW – John McGinn – 6.5/10

Had a brilliant run-up and had an almost 1v1 situation with the keeper, which he missed. Won some duels and had a decent passing accuracy. Though he had a decent day, when compared with his teammates who had exceptional performances, his glory did not prevail.

AM – Marco Asensio – 7/10

Had a golden opportunity to score when he tapped the ball into the goal. To his agony, the chance was missed as he failed to connect the ball properly. Won free kicks at places that posed threats to the opponents, and one such free kick missed the goal by inches as it hit the bar. Was pivotal in providing through balls and passes, and making overlapping runs inside the box.

RW – Morgan Rogers – 7.5/10

Displayed some amazing skill, which caused trouble for them as they committed fouls against him at dangerous positions. Was involved in some interceptions and also made blocks. His performance in the right wing-back area helped to recoup the slippery right-back position.

CF – Ollie Watkins – 8.5/10

Gave an explosive start to the match by scoring in the very first minute, adding to the momentum for his team. Minutes later, he dribbled forward and took a stunning shot, which was denied by the bar. His constant attacks led to opponents conceding fouls and even getting booked by the referee.

Sub – Jacob Ramsey – 6.5/10

Sub – Amadou Onana – 7/10

Sub – Ross Barkley – 6/10

Sub – Marcus Rashford – 6/10

Sub – Donyell Malen – 6/10

Coach – Unai Emery – 7/10

His mentality was clear – Attack with full sonfidence and power. Though this had a small slip in the second part of the first half as all on attack left the defence open, he brought composure to his team while sticking to the strategy to win it for his team.

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Newcastle United Player Ratings

GK – Nick Pope – 7.5/10

He was the only player who had an above-average or decent performance for his team. Stood strong for a vast majority of the match, and once the opponents got the rhythm of the game, even then, he was the last man who stood tall. However, as the defence shattered, he had no much role.

LB – Valentino Livramento – 6/10

He was exceptionally quick and played some beautiful football. Covered the entire left flank by making some speedy dribbles, but those dribbles did not create any real challenge for the opponents, as most of them were blocked by the defenders when he attempted to cross.

CB – Dan Burn – 5/10

Below average performance. Left so many gaps that were properly capitalised by the opponents. Scored his own goal, which brought down his morale as he was seen not playing properly after that. Had exceptional passing accuracy; however, as a defender, his duty was to clear the ball, which he failed to do.

CB – Fabian Schär – 6/10

Did not have the best of luck during the match as a heavy deflection from his side led to the opponents getting an advantage in the scoresheet. Did not show responsibility and had bad defence. Conceded a tactical foul, which resulted in him being under the referee very early in the match. However, this fueled him to contribute to his team, which led to him scoring the equaliser for his team, compensating for the errors made by.

RB – Kieran Trippier – 6/10

He was bad at passing accuracy as he missed his teammate on almost a quarter of the passes made. He was also struggling to make the long ball reach his men. He was also average in winning duels.

CM – Bruno Guimarães – 6/10

The captain had a key role in bringing back the motivation and fire for his team. However, individually, his performance was okay and not something spectacular. Compared to his teammates, he had a decent one at the office.

CM – Sandro Tonali – 6/10

He was asked to track back very early, and he did that beautifully. However, the long pass he made as a follow-up went straight to a Villa player who laid the foundation for the first goal. Made some really important challenges that helped to resist the opponents from going full-on attacking mode. Made a sneaky attempt from outside the box, which could have been a goal. The Italian came to the rescue when he made a goal-line save to deny the opponents from scoring

CM – Joelinton– 6/10

He was seen everywhere in the opponent’s box, alongside making some cameo appearances in his own box. Made some contributions, though minimal, in every part of the game.

LW – Harvey Barnes – 6/10

Provided the long ball inside the box, which beat the Villa defenders and found Schär, who led to his team finding the equaliser. Along with Livramento, he had some combination plays by making some breathtaking one-touches that added some tension for the opponents.

RW – Jacob Murphy – 6/10

Had a bad day in the office as he failed to prove his role as a winger. His presence was only seen in the attacking third or the deep midfield third, and this did not help the team. He rarely came to the defence to support his teammates, and this made his role pointless. Also, he was limited by Maatsen from coming forward.

CF – Alexander Isak – 6/10

Played almost more than two-thirds of the math and managed to make around twenty-odd touches. Out of these touches, he lost possession around half a dozen times. This made him a costly affair for his team, and he was subbed off in the second half as his presence was more or less needless.

Sub – Anthony – 6/10

Sub – Emil – 6/10

Sub – Joe Willock – 5/10

Sub – Wilson – 6/10

Sub – Matt Target – 5/10

Coach – Jason Tindal – /10

Though his team was down very early in the game, he managed to bring them together and give a fight. In the end had to watch his empire being shattered into pieces.

Sportsdunia’s Man of the Match goes to Ollie Watkins.

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