LORD OF THE INGS
Danny’s wowing boss Smith
DANNY INGS floored Steve Bruce with a goal-of-the-season contender, but the Toon chief felt VAR delivered the fatal blow.
Aston Villa’s £30million striker produced an acrobatic scissors-kick to set Dean Smith’s men on their way to a first win this campaign, before officialdom left the Newcastle boss frothing at the mouth.
New boy Ings pounced in first-half injury time, after a long throw from Matty Cash was flicked on by Tyrone Mings, thumping home on the full to send a pumped-up Villa Park wild with delight.
But two second-half decisions – the first for a handball against Toon’s Jamaal Lascelles, and the second an offside against striker Callum Wilson – tipped Bruce over the edge.
“The big decisions went against us,” he said.
“Lascelles has his foot above his head as he tried to block a header – and if you’re going to do that, you’re going to put your arm up. No one in the ground thought it was handball.
“And with respect to the offside, if those lines aren’t adjoined, I don’t know what is.
“I thought we weren’t looking at lines from armpits anymore. I thought we were erring on the side of the attacker. It’s not clear and obvious. He was offside by a toe again.
“We feel aggrieved. Personally, I feel disappointed in VAR as there’s a fine balance in games, and it has proved costly.”
In the home dugout,
Smith was happier with his new forward than he was with Villa’s overall display.
Ings looked lively throughout and capped an encouraging performance with his worldie.
Villa’s boss said: “Danny did to Newcastle what he has done to ourselves and a lot of other clubs.
“He scored a 20-yarder against us last season and put it in the top corner. We know the type of goals he can score.
“It was a super finish and one that will be in the list already for goal-ofthe-season, even though it’s only the second game.
“It was great to see him doing that in a Villa shirt.”
It could have been different for Bruce had Wilson – who gave Mings a thorough workover – not blazed high and wide after only five minutes.
The complexion of the afternoon would have taken a very different turn.
There was little in the game until Cash composed himself, launching a throw that reached Ings after a flick on by Mings.
Ings altered his body shape in a flash and produced an acrobatic finish that
It was a super finish. Danny did to Newcastle what he’s done to ourselves and a lot of clubs. It’s great he’s in a Villa shirt.
flew past Woodman into the top corner.
It was a stunner. Newcastle’s keeper barely had time to blink, let alone move to stop it
That strike set a noisy Villa Park into raptures. And they were out of their seats again just after the hour when Mings sent a header goalwards as Newcastle struggled to clear their lines.
Lascelles tried to block, but the ball hit his arm from close range.
Referee David Coote was instructed to view the incident and awarded a penalty after studying the pitchside monitor. Anwar El Ghazi stepped up to send Woodman the wrong way from the spot.
If Bruce felt aggrieved, then that frustration was doubled ten minutes from time.
Wilson, chasing Joe Willock’s ball over the top, reached it first before being cleaned out by Villa keeper Emi Martinez.
Coote did not need to consult the monitor this time, but was stopped from doing so anyway after VAR decided the striker had strayed offside. Smith said: “We needed Danny’s goal. We were OK in the first-half – we put them under some pressure and they did the same to us.
“But it didn’t seem like the deadlock would be broken until something special like that happened.
“I thought it was an OK performance, but a better result than last week.
“We lacked intensity last week and that was never going to happen in front of the fans.
“We had to battle and scrap and we have had some decisions go our way as well.”