Villa ruin Bruce’s big return Newcastle sent crashing to defeat by Hourihane stunner
This was Steve Bruce’s first return to Villa Park since the night he had a cabbage hurled at him, but he was unable to frustrate his former club on their own patch.
Aston Villa climbed two places to 15th after a deserved victory over their old manager, with one of Bruce’s signings, Conor Hourihane, demonstrating his expert delivery of the dead ball by scoring one goal and creating the other.
Hourihane, and the excellent Jack Grealish, were both crucial as Bruce was sentenced to another unhappy experience in the second city, in an alarming Newcastle United performance.
There was talk of a revenge mission before the first visit to Villa since his dismissal in October 2018, but his team never looked likely to secure a third win in a row.
Bruce’s negative tactics came under fire from Newcastle’s supporters and, for all the apathy towards owner Mike Ashley, he must wonder why he bothers spending any money when big buys such as Joelinton and Miguel Almiron perform so poorly.
Villa were impressive as an attacking unit, if not always defensively, and the club’s fourth league win since promotion was sorely needed by manager Dean Smith.
Next month they face daunting trips to Manchester United and Chelsea, a home game against resurgent Leicester City and then a date with Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, so a win was required to ease the nerves.
For Bruce, it was another chastening night. “I had a couple of really enjoyable years here and it’s all gone now. The disappointment here was the way we played,” he said. “It’s a missed opportunity for us and we didn’t play well enough. We were nowhere near where we’ve been and were passive with and without the ball.
“Conor has produced two pieces of magic, which we all know he’s capable of. A lot of people talk about me signing John Mcginn, but Conor wasn’t bad either for a million quid.”
This was the scene of what Bruce described as “one of the most unsavoury times” of his career, when the green vegetable was hurled in his direction during a chaotic 3-3 draw with Preston North End.
Bruce was sacked less than 24 hours later, and returning here last night must have felt like a poignant moment for the Geordie.
He was managing the club when he suffered the devastating loss of both parents, and experienced the financial turmoil which followed defeat by Fulham in the 2018 Championship play-off final.
Villa fans hounded him out by the end, but it was not the disastrous tenure many would have you believe. This was an opportunity to improve his popularity with the fans of his new club, but Newcastle never looked like taking it.
The return of Grealish clearly galvanised Villa. The attacking midfielder and captain had missed the past two games with a calf injury and Villa are significantly weaker without him.
There was an early scare when Grealish recoiled after a collision with Joelinton, appearing to receive a kick on a shin, while defender Matt Targett was seen vomiting on the field after he was caught in the neck. But Villa were in control for most of the evening and took the lead just after the half-hour.
Martin Dubravka had produced a fine save to deny Douglas Luiz, but was immobile when Villa made the breakthrough. After Grealish was fouled by Deandre Yedlin outside the area, a clever free-kick routine ended with Hourihane bending a wonderful shot into the corner.
Hourihane’s set-piece expertise was also evident in the 36th minute as Villa extended the lead. This time the midfielder’s exquisite cross into the area bewildered the visiting defence to find Anwar El Ghazi, who bundled the ball over the line.
Bruce had clearly rigged up the hair dryer in the dressing room, for Newcastle’s improvement early in the second half was tangible.
Allan Saint-maximin forced a smart save from Tom Heaton two minutes after the restart and Newcastle were now attacking with purpose, with Villa suddenly nervy at the back.
Villa did reassert themselves and Grealish was involved in all of their threatening moments, a persistent menace in his new role on the right of a front three. He deserved a goal to mark his return.
Inexplicably, Villa missed a succession of chances to add a third goal. Mcginn shot tamely at Dubravka, while Wesley also failed to convert from a few yards out, but there was no late response from Newcastle.
Smith, the Villa manager, said: “This league is so competitive and it’s a big win in terms of the table because you don’t want to see a gap opening up. We feel we should
have more points than we’ve got. Jack was a constant threat and Conor has a wand of a left foot. When Jack is in our team, we’ve got a better chance of winning.”