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Quick recap: Sandro Tonali enjoyed his first draw, scoring the opening goal for Newcastle before assisting his second either side of Moussa Diaby’s equaliser. It was Alexander Isaacs who put Newcastle back the lead, before taking the lead with a beautiful miss from Ezri Konsa.
Callum Wilson and Harvey Barnes completed the rout after coming off the bench, while Aston Villa lost Tyrone Mings to what appears to be a very serious injury sustained on the back of what looked like an entirely unremarkable meeting with Isaacs as the pair fought for a ball. Mings is currently being evaluated at a local hospital and we wish him all the best.
Full time: Newcastle 5-1 Aston Villa
peep! peep! peep! With Callum Wilson chipping away on goal, Ezri Konsa banishes it with a superbly timed tackle. Bobby Madley is drawing to a close and Newcastle fans celebrate an emphatic victory in their opening game of the season. Their team hit five goals past Aston Villa, whose manager would be dumbfounded by the performance, which at times was surprisingly incompetent.
90 + 5 minutes: Villa wins the corner, which Newcastle cleared.
90 + 2 minutes: Sandro Tonali is booked to waste time as he comes off the pitch after being substituted. He made an excellent debut and was replaced by Elliot Anderson, a 20-year-old from Whitley Bay who had been with the club for 12 years.
Goal! Newcastle 5-1 Aston Villa (Barnes 90 + 1)
Newcastle score five! Aston Villa’s soaring streak has once again cost them dearly. Harvey Barnes sprints to a through ball and shoots it past Amy Martinez. that it shocking Villa defense.
89 minutes: Unai Emery doesn’t look very happy in his artistic field and that’s a big wonder. The Aston Villa boss has every right to be concerned with the man his team’s defense has been occasionally broken up by Newcastle players, who are still relentlessly pressing and rushing despite being three-goal with the game on strike.
87 minutes: Aston Villa’s double replacement: Moussa Diaby and Matty Cash step off to be replaced by Philippe Coutinho and academy graduate Jaden Velujene.
85 minutes: Newcastle double substitution: Bruno Guimarães and Miguel Almiron make way for Sean Longstaff and Jacob Murphy.
83 minutes: Newcastle win a corner and Martinez comes to the ball, but he does not approach it. Joelinton heads the ball towards the goal but Ollie Watkins saves it and passes the ball through.
81 minutes: Just inside the Villa half, Barnes was launched into a one-on-one against Martínez and ran towards the goal before tipping the ball to Wilson, who was in support. It seems certain he will score from close range, but Martinez somehow keeps the ball in with one knee.
79 minutes: Newcastle’s fourth goal escaped VAR checking for offside, much to the delight of the home fans. Villa take a beating here, just as injuries piled up at Newcastle when the two sides met at Villa Park last April.
Goal! Newcastle 4-1 Aston Villa (Wilson 77)
Newcastle keep top! Taking advantage of Villa’s high defensive line, Barnes latched on to a through ball at the back and eased it in for Callum Wilson. He enters the house with a minimum of fuss.
75 minutes: Harvey Barnes has not been on the field for long but he has already sent one cross into the Villa penalty area and two fouls from Ezri Konsa equalized.
74 minutes: Matty Cash sends a speculative low cross across the Newcastle penalty area, forcing Nick Pope to get something on the ball and put it into a corner. Nothing comes from the static group.
72 minutes: Tyrone Mings update: Sky Sports report that after receiving prolonged treatment in the bowels of St James’ Park, the Aston Villa center half has been transferred to a local hospital. Fingers crossed that his injury isn’t too bad.
70 minutes: Double substitution for Newcastle: Harvey Barnes and Callum Wilson replace Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak.
66 minutes: Bruno Guimaraes was booked for waving an imaginary yellow card in an attempt to get Pau Torres for a foul on Sandro Tonali. I’m not sure this is the imaginary yellow card Bruno had in mind when he appealed to Andy Madley’s better judgment. It’s good to see this crackdown on opposing players and it could go on for a long time.
64 minutes: Ollie Watkins swings that way as he runs into the Newcastle penalty area and Nick Pope leads him into the path of Matty Cash. The Aston Villa full-back shot the rebound high and wide when scoring seemed easiest. She is a bad miss.
63 minutes: Aston Villa replacement: John McGinn makes way for Diego Carlos.
64 minutes: Now it’s Almiron’s chance to get close. His low shot swings between Matty Cash’s legs and heads towards the goal, but Martinez saves his side once again.
62 minutes: Isaac almost scored a hat-trick but was cleverly saved by Martinez in a one-on-one with the Villa goalkeeper.
60 minutes: This was a massive error by Konsa, who was in control of the ball and headed for the corner flag but bounced back and mistook control and allowed Isaac to attack him. A neatly cut finish into the ensuing far corner was outstanding.
Goal! Newcastle 3-1 Aston Villa (Isaac 58)
Newcastle extend their lead. Ezri Konsa dribbles his foot over the ball and allows Isak to steal possession on the left side of the Villa penalty area. Mixing the soft boot, Martinez sits on his butt and puts the ball on top of him for a great finish.
56 minutes: Alexander Isaacs, looking inconceivably offside, cut in from the inside from the left as several Villa players turned them off and waited for the flag and whistle to be raised. Both things happen in the end but not before he slashes the ball and cleverly saves Amy Martinez.
55 minutes: Corner of the villa. Lucas Digne brings the ball towards the near post but Boubacar Kamara gets a lot of buying with his header and sends it well. To borrow a phrase from Andy Townsend: If anything, Clive, he heads it up also Good.
52 minutes: In a mutual hold, Anthony Gordon is warned not to lunge at Matty Cash. The defender brought Villa down without getting close to the ball.
51 minutes: Gordon plays behind Almiron with a sweet short pass. There is plenty of weight on the subsequent cross and the ball is wide of Isaac, who lurks with menacing intentions in the Villa penalty area.
49 minutes: Correction: becomes the fourth The villa player will be booked in this game.
48 minutes: Matty Cash is having a hot evening out of it trying to keep Anthony Gordon at bay and is booked for a foul on the Newcastle striker. He became the fifth Villa player to be booked in this match.
47 minutes: Tielemann’s first act on the pitch in a Villa shirt is to give the ball wide as he attempts to sweep it forward for the first time after receiving a pass.
Second half: Newcastle 2-1 Aston Villa
46 minutes: Newcastle start the second half and Aston Villa have made a change. Youri Tielemans plays Leon Bailey, who appeared to be suffering from a back injury towards the end of the first half.
First half: Newcastle 2-1 Aston Villa
Andy Madley was booed by the denizens at St James’ Park as he exploded in the first half, and the locals were still unhappy that he didn’t send on Villa goalkeeper Aimee Martinez for what was quite clearly an offense that only merited caution. Interestingly, but unsurprisingly, Martinez’s shaking after the error in the direction of the reference indicated that he thought he had done nothing wrong at all!
It was a half… well, two halves’; A high-octane, fast-and-furious one as Sandro Tonali fired Newcastle ahead before Moussa Diaby equalized for Villa. Alexander Isaacs restored Newcastle’s lead as the game progressed well, only for them to lose all the ‘oomf’ after Tyrone Mings was knocked out after suffering what was a bizarre and serious injury.
45 + 8 minutes: Aimee Martinez runs from his own line towards the sideline, chasing the same ball that was Miguel Almiron. An unremarkable force, he comes out of Paraguay and escapes with a booking because nothing has prevented anything like a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Newcastle fans are unimpressed, as is Sven Putman, who was also booked for throbbing his gums.
45 + 7 minutes: Bruno was penalized for pushing Matty Cash and Villa’s free-kick about 35 yards from Newcastle’s goal. Douglas Luiz plays the ball wide to Digne, who cannot pass the ball before it crosses the sideline.
45 + 6 minutes: Diaby runs straight into the Newcastle penalty area and tips the ball forward to Watkins, who backs up the goal. As the Villa striker attempts to turn around, Dan Byrne robs him of possession.
45 + 4 minutes: A promising move from Newcastle inspired by Kieran Trippier ends when Anthony Gordon mishandles the ball from the touchline and puts it on a throw-in.
45 + 3 minutes: Leon Bailey attempted to send Diaby working his way down the right with a back heel around the corner, but Dan Byrne was on hand for an interception.
45 minutes: In his role as referee, Andy Madley appears to be in a very bad mood and swoops down on free kicks at the slightest sign of contact between the players. If this is part of a new refereeing directive, I can’t say I support it and doubt players or fans will like it either.
We’ll have at least 10 minutes of extra time, mostly because of the lengthy period medics had to treat Tyrone Mings before removing him from the arena.
44 minutes: Diaby should have done a better job, there, as he was unlikely to score with a shot at the near post. He could have squared the ball or at least attempted a shot into the vast expanse of goal that Nick Pope did not cover.
42 minutes: The pace of the match was broken up by a series of bad mistakes from players on both sides. Moussa Diaby steps in behind the Newcastle defense after playing Douglas Luiz but with plenty of goals to shoot, he shoots straight into the side-netting at the near post from an admittedly tight angle.