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In a hugely entertaining contest, Newcastle trashed Aston Villa 5-1 at home to open their season in the most emphatic of styles. After an early exchange of goals the Magpies took over and never let go. Villa looked clueless about how to slow their hosts down. Here are our Newcastle vs Aston Villa player ratings and the Player of the Match too.
- Tonali needed 6 minutes on his Premier League debut to score. Diaby needed 11 on his debut to make it 1-1.
- There was no slowing down Newcastle though. Isak scored on each side of the interval to give the Magpies a commanding lead.
- Two more late goals from substitutes finished the demolition job.
Newcastle player ratings: Tonali’s excellence and Isak’s pure brilliance proved more than enough
Contents
GK Nick Pope 7.2/10 – Solid all game and not at fault for the early goal that was conceded.
DF Kieran Trippier 7.2/10 – Did his defensive duties well. His crosses caused problems too.
DF Fabian Schar 6.9/10 – Solid in the air. Had problems dealing with the pace of some opponents though.
DM Sven Botman 7.9/10 – Played an excellent game. Dominant in every aspect.
DF Dan Burn 7.0/10 – Defended his zone well. Didn’t provide enough support in attack though.
MF Joelinton 6.3/10 – Had a poor showing. Isolated himself from the action for very long periods.
MF Sandro Tonali 7.9/10 – Scored 6 minutes into his Premier League debut. This set him up for an excellent match after that.
MF Bruno Guimaraes 7.1/10 – Good on the ball. Tried a bit too hard to find a goal for himself though.
FW Anthony Gordon 7.3/10 – Very lively and with a blistering pace when one-on-one.
MF Alexander Isak 8.2/10 – Scored 2 but could have had 4. Played very well and was a major threat.
Back to winning ways 🤩 #nufc pic.twitter.com/lnQ0unYRiJ
— Alexander Isak (@IsakNUFC) March 12, 2023
FW Miguel Almiron 7.4/10 – Made some nice moves. His passes and crosses created most of the big chances in the first half.
Substitutes
MF Harvey Barnes 7.4/10 – Came off the bench for his debut and immediately celebrated it with a goal.
FW Callum Wilson 7.1/10 – Scored the final goal of the match after coming off the bench. Inches away from another goal too.
MF Sean Longstaff N/A
MF James Murphy N/A
MF Elie Anderson N/A
Aston Villa player ratings: lacklustre defending brings pain
GK Emiliano Martinez 6.4/10 – Made some fine saves but still conceded 5 goals.
DF Matty Cash 5.1/10 – Outplayed in his zone all match. Never found a way to settle in.
DF Ezri Konsa 5.2/10 – Awful. At fault for 2 of the goals.
DF Tyrone Mings 6.1/10 – Played only 30 minutes. Not very well and not missed much once taken off.
DF Lucas Digne 6.5/10 – Attacked well down the left and delivered some good crosses. Defensively did poorly.
MF Douglas Luiz 6.4/10 – Struggled to control the midfield. Had some good tackles but was late to mark runners several times too.
MF John McGinn 5.9/10 – Lost every 50-50 duel he entered. Never got going.
MF Moussa Diaby 7.5/10 – Scored 11 minutes on his Premier League debut. Involved in all of Villa’s big chances directly.
MF Boubacar Kamara 6.0/10 – Error-prone all match.
FW Leon Bailey 6.1/10 – Very insecure on the ball. His crosses kept flying wayward too.
FW Ollie Watkins 6.9/10 – Led the line reasonably well. Provided the assist for the early goal.
Substitutes
DF Pau Torres 6.4/10 – Came off the bench early. Played largely well but still his team conceded 3 goals when he was on the pitch.
MF Youri Tielemans 6.0/10 – Came on at halftime for his debut. Never looked comfortable.
FW Diego Carlos 6.3/10 – The match was over when he came on. Didn’t do much.
MF Coutinho N/A
MF Philogene-Bidace N/A
Player of the Match: Alexander Isak
Newcastle’s striker Isak scored the all-important 2nd and 3rd goals in this match to give the Magpies a crucial advantage. Isak was a constant threat and he could have easily opened the campaign with a hat-trick if a bit more lucky.
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