Villa salvage late point but find victory elusive
Aston Villa are like a life raft with a puncture. You can see the air escaping, which does not inspire confidence, but you cannot decide whether it is going to float long enough to be rescued or deflate and sink.
When you look at the players, the money spent, you think Villa should be good enough to stay up. But when you watch them play, you start to suspect they might not.
On the one hand they rescued a point here, Ahmed Elmohamady’s glancing header going under Martin Dubravka late on. On the other hand, they failed to get the win that would have generated real confidence in their survival fight.
“A point away from home is a good result,” said Elmohamady. “We looked more solid and we created a number of good chances … we finished strongly, too.”
Maybe, but this is a game Dean Smith’s side should have won against hosts in such relaxed mood. A point is OK, but not good enough as they remain in the bottom three.
Newcastle are surprisingly content with life after lockdown. Already safe in the Premier League, minds have inevitably turned to the FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City this weekend.
Yet they still had enough to take the lead, as their two substitutes Andy Carroll and Dwight Gayle combined at a throw-in.
Four defenders were bunched together and taken out of the game by a square pass from Carroll, which Gayle slotted home with a clinical finish. It was his first goal of the season, just 94 seconds after coming on.
Newcastle should have held on, only for a rare mistake from Dubravka, but Villa should have been in front long before that. They had two clear chances inside the first 15 minutes.
The first came when Trezeguet failed to convert at the far post, the second when Mbwana Samatta glanced a header wide.
The match was played at almost walking pace and, despite some late pressure, the visitors could not make it count.
It is why they have been in relegation trouble all season and it is why they will probably remain in it until the final weekend.
Newcastle United (4-2-3-1) Dubravka 5; Manquillo 6, Fernandez 7, Lascelles 7, Rose 7; Hayden 5 (Bentaleb 86), Shelvey 7; Ritchie 5 (Gayle 67), Almiron 5 (Lazaro 86), Saint-maximin 6; Joelinton 5 (Carroll 64). Subs Darlow (g), Schar, Muto, Krafth, Yedlin. Booked Lascelles, Fernandez.
Aston Villa (4-3-3) Nyland 6; Konsa 6 (Elmohamady 77), Hause 6, Mings 7, Targett 6; Grealish 7, Douglas Luiz 6, Mcginn 7 (Nakamba 77); El Ghazi 6 (Hourihane 70), Samatta 5, Trezeguet 5 (Davis 70). Subs Reina (g), Taylor, Baston, Jota, Vassilev. Booked Hause, Douglas Luiz. Referee Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire).