The away side were much improved in comparison to recent performances and finally started to show glimpses of what some people have been saying all along – this team has potential.
Although it’s important not to get too carried after just one performance, irrespective of how impressive it was, I have to say that Yohan Cabaye was excellent in the middle of the park and was unlucky not to score at least one goal after forcing one fantastic save from Shay Given, cracking another fantastic shot off the Villa crossbar and wasting a glorious opportunity after his movement had created the perfect passing opportunity for Sylvain Marveaux to find him at the far post.
I’ll go into the match in a bit more detail below, but to highlight just how much the match was dominated by NUFC I thought I’d pluck some match stats from The Guardian out and present them to you before I get going on the report.
| Aston Villa | Newcastle | |
| Shots at goal | 11 | 22 |
| Shots on target | 2 | 6 |
| Corners | 4 | 9 |
| Fouls | 13 | 10 |
| Bookings | 1 | 1 |
| Possesion | 41% | 59% |
The visitors started off brightly and looked neat and assured in possession. Yohan Cabaye was first to have a crack at the Villa goal just six minutes in although his shot swerved wide of Shay Given’s right post. Ryan Taylor tried another one of his “over the wall” specials only for it not to be so special this time and actually find the wall instead, while Gabriel Obertan sent former Mag Shay Given backpeddling and forced him to tip over a dangerous shot-cum-cross.
All of that in the opening 12 minutes contributed to a bright start for Newcastle. It was more than just the attempts at goal that was impressive though as Newcastle controlled pretty much all of the opening exchanges with a combination of measured tackling and clever passing. It was much improved from Monday night at QPR, even at this early juncture.
The predictable kick in the nuts arrived soon after though when Barry Bannan crossed in from the left for Gabriel Agbonlahor who found his first time shot at goal blocked by Fabricio Coloccini. Unfortunately for the Argie the loose ball fell kindly for the Villa man who calmly slid the ball past Tim Krul from six or so yards out. By Colo’s usual standards it was an error and he could have dealt with it better first time round
I said at the time that I wondered if we would get back into the game. Despite the dominance, which continued after the Villa goal by the way, we never really looked like scoring. Essentially we weren’t doing anything wrong, it was just that the final pass or ball just wasn’t coming off for one reason or another.
It nearly hurt us further when Stiliyan Petrov squared the ball for Darren Bent eight yards out only for the former Mackem to scuff his shot wide when it seemed easier to score. With 26 minutes gone a second goal would have been terminal to our hopes of getting a draw. We escaped that one although it could be argued that with the way we had been paying we deserved a slice of luck.
Newcastle did have chances of their own however. Steven Taylor forced a fine save from Shay Given when he volleyed at goal from a Yohan Cabaye corner. Then Jonas Gutierrez spooned over from inside the box when he really should have tested the keeper before Demba Ba had a shot on the turn deflected over the bar.
It wasn’t enough though and the hosts went in for their half-time brew 1-0 up.
Villa made a better start to the second half and could have extended their lead had Agbonlahor not stabbed narrowly wide in the 47th minute. The home sides reprisal didn’t last long however and Newcastle were soon back on top with Yohan Cabaye and Cheik Tiote combining to great effect through the middle.
In fact it was the latter of the two who can claim an assist for the equaliser for their efforts. Yohan Cabaye smacked a shot towards goal which beat Shay Given all ends up only for the ball to bounce back off the crossbar. Cheik Tiote managed to get hold of the resulting loose ball and swung a cross in from the left for Leon Best who aimed his point blank header straight at Shay Given only to benefit from being in the right place in the right time for the rebound which was duly despatched into the back of the net.
I don’t know what it is about Best. He is by no means the ‘best’ player we’ve had, but he has a **** good knack of being in the right place at the right time. At this moment in time he is on course to better Andy Carroll’s Premier League goal return for us, in less games I’ll hasten to add.
From the moment Leon Best equalised there was only going to be one winner, and it wasn’t the home side. Newcastle continued to dominate although they nearly became the architects of their own downfall when a mistake by Steven Taylor allowed Darren Bent a shot at goal. Fortunately his chip had neither the power or direction to cost us which allowed Taylor to get back and make amends for his error.
Further chances followed for Newcastle through Yohan Cabaye who forced another fine save from Given after unleashing a fierce volley at goal. And the Frenchman very nearly opened his account his scoring account yet again for the Toon when his clever movement in the dying moments opened up a pass for Marveuax to find Cabaye at the far post although unfortunately he fired over after a nice little chest down.
There was even a moment of controversy when Sammy Ameobi had a fantastic goal disallowed thanks to the interference from the Assistant Referee who, despite being further away from the action than the actual referee, somehow managed to over-rule his superior which forced play to be called back after Ameobi Jnr had nailed the Villa defence and found the back of the net with an acute finish over Shay Given.
All in all it’s a point well deserved. We were very good today and could have easily taken all three points away from Villa Park. Still, we remain undefeated, and with a home game against Blackburn following the midweek trip to Nottingham Forest in the Carling Cup we have the perfect opportunity to extend that run of unbeaten form.
Howay the lads!
Aston Villa: Shay Given, Alan Hutton, James Collins, Richard Dunne, Stephen Warnock, Barry Bannan, Stiliyan Petrov, Fabien Delph, Charles N’Zogbia, Darren Bent, Gabriel Agbonlahor
Subs: Brad Guzan, Nathan Delfouneso, Marc Albrighton, Ciaran Clark, Chris Herd, Shane Lowry, Gary Gardner
Newcastle United: Tim Krul; Danny Simpson, Fabricio Coloccini (c), Steven Taylor, Ryan Taylor; Gabriel Obertan, Cheik Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Jonas Gutierrez; Demba Ba, Leon Best
Subs: Rob Elliot, James Perch, Danny Guthrie, Sylvain Marveaux, Sammy Ameobi, Shola Ameobi, Peter Lovenkrands
good interview with Best. Mentions some good points.
http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/1108/50/exclusive-sky-limit-newcastle-under-pardew-says-best
mark(Quote)
good analysis toonsy. did u watch the match twice already 🙂
its either that or you had a better streaming game than me..:)
mark(Quote)
wonder if we get more than 90 seconds on Match of the Day 😉
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Toonsy good job mate and I cant really add owt to it
Big Dave(Quote)
any1 know why Gosling didnt make the bench. Is he injured?
Can’t wait to see more of Marv, some tidy touches and quick passing. Obertan looked much better 2day when winging it, still more to come from him me thinks.
mark(Quote)
Absolutely cracking report mate. I would be surprised if even Villa fans come on and argue it. They had very few chances and you’ve highlighted them all.
Moreno(Quote)
sammy and marveaux are better on the ball then those who came off…they made us go forward more and with control of the ball..
asim(Quote)
ASIM,
I agree with that mate, would you not put that down to them being fresh though whilst Villa defence (Dunne and Collins not being spring chickens) would have been tiring?
Moreno(Quote)
not getting carried away but I’m quite optimistic considering the team we had out + subs to come on. Best looking the part now.
Glad to see Smith dropped from the squad.
Decent squad altho a little light in defence but we also have Willo, Vuckic, Benny and Santon to add. Looking good imo
mark(Quote)
Cabaye man of the match for me!! What a fecking shot on him and his shots are so accurate !!! Hell of a buy for the toon and only 4.3 million!!! Class !! Also well done to ba today , by a mile his best game for the toon !!! Would play him over shola any day!!!
Army69(Quote)
Mark,
…and Gosling mate. He had a solid pre-season.
Moreno(Quote)
Interesting to note tha Best has scored 9 goals in 2011 compared to Andy Carols 2 !!
The stats tell everything despite Matt Le Tssiers comments to the contray on Sky sports soccer Saturday. Cabaye is only just beginning his transition into the premiere league and once he becomes more settled in the English game he can only go from strenghth to strength. Come on the Toon
badger(Quote)
@Moreno
oh aye, m8. silly me, was just asking why he was dropped just b4 that.
onwards and upwards. Seems like Pards plays his part with his man-managing skills, according to best’ interview.
mark(Quote)
once we turn possesion into goals we will be laughing.
Can see Cabaye being made club captain in the future.
That was the kind of performance that will get bums out of seats.
He was bloody unlucky not to bag a brace.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Toonsy – I’ve disagreed with you on a few things and held back some criticism on other things. However, credit where it is due. I have to say that this piece is very well written, particularly given the time pressure. While I’m at it, I will also say that the articles on here are of a very good standard; you only need to look at many other sites for it to hit home. You suggested the other day that you felt like packing it in because of Troy and one or two others of us, and I hope that’s not the case.
I only managed to listen to bits of the game on the radio and read your report, so can’t give a personal opinion as such. However, as I have often countered some people’s soaring aspirations of Cabaye, it seems credit is also due to him. Sounded like he had a canny game.
I posted before the match that Best should be given the number 9 shirt. (Is that possible after he’s been allocated a number?) Its good to read from Mark’s Talksport link that Pards is bigging him up, which is something that I have been hoping for.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Cabaye pass completion if you take out corners was 89.85 .. 90%! Very good and that sort of performance is what some of the posters on here who weren’t so convinced by him have been waiting to see. Him and tiote were v good today. Lots of little passes between them also to keep possession ticking over. Also assist for tiote? Only good cross in the whole game from open play. Must work on that but v good performance and we deserved 3 points
Andy(Quote)
Who got booked for us?
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Very happy with that performance. Shame about the result, although we were very close to being 2-0, albeit undeservedly, so still pleased with the result.
Still fourth and the best is yet to come. Quite exciting when you think of it like that.
Fair play to Bobby for praising the lads too. One happy chicken here.
Toon Chicken(Quote)
nicely said Blackley & Brownlie regarding the site.
mark(Quote)
great game the day,well chuffed with how we played.
fk nos how we didnt win..
hitman(Quote)
@B&B
you should try this link: http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/ if you dont mind watching games online.
Download Sopcast first. While many other links cut off during stream I tend to find this one the most consistent. It has been for years.
mark(Quote)
Can any of the people slating obertan give a reasoned argument to back it up? I’m not looking for an argument, would just like to hear one. For me he’s getting better every game and his pace has helped us on the break as well as in defence.
KillyMag(Quote)
http://www.astonvilla-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/another_draw_700904/index.shtml
Canny write up from the other side….the lad seems to think we’re in pretty good shape…
Munich Mag(Quote)
Killy.
I did mention in the game I thought we should change things as i thought he wasn’t doing too well. To be honest, I think Warnock just had a great game and it wasn’t so much Obertan. Warnock’s positioning play was top class and nullified his threat.
I find Obertan most exciting when he runs through the middle to be honest…
Moreno(Quote)
Great performance and I think we will get better. But why do some fans say the opposition were rubbish whenever we play well? Give the credit to the Toon. And why do the press report Newcastle hold Villa when it was the other way round?
Groucho(Quote)
We’re last on MOTD tonight, the editor has already said,
Jobey07(Quote)
Owa the moon loven didnt play!!
Army69(Quote)
@Groucho
‘Newcastle hold Villa when it was the other way round’..
I think it might be because they’re the home team? not sure tho
mark(Quote)
Mark – To be honest I had a cracking stream.No interuptions all the way through,and it was HD 🙂
B&B- Noce one mate.I’ve calmed down a bit from yesterday so we’ll just leaveit all where it was – yesterday:)
toonsy(Quote)
Arsenal fans having a reet good whinge on 606 😆
Fans want communication from the board 😯
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Did anyone watch the B’burn game earlier.
I know they won, but were they good?
Do we have anything to fear for next week?
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
BB,
Aa lot of the jocks up her support them which I just don’t get. I like to wind them up so have adopted an Arsenal hatred stance.
To be fair to them though, they have a lot to whinge about when it comes to this season’s results. They received some serious money for their best 2 players and should have brought in some more quality.
Looking at how their new signings have settled…Arteta looks like he has been in their midfield years but Maertasacker (or whatever he is called) will take time to bed in and that Koscielny….Christ he has been awful.
Moreno(Quote)
BB
Blackburn were dominated for 80% of the game and the result seriously papers over the cracks. They should have been 3 or 4-0 down by halftime and got some incredibly fortunate goals.
We will have to make special plans for both Holliet and Yakubu though. Confident about keeping Yakubu quiet, but Holliet… 🙄
The Kid(Quote)
Yeah ! entertaining game to watch.
Unlike the horror show against QPR, is this gonna be a repeat of last season, where we never knew which side would show up on any given day ?
Or is the side beginning to jell ?
All three French mid-fielders, Obertan, Cabaye and (for the short stint) Marveaux, looked good, especially Cabaye, we can hopefully expect a lot more from him this season and don’t doubt he will become a fan favorite.
Apart from a couple of miss-placed passes, Tiote did his job in front of the back four, without collecting a card.
As for Best? he has shown himself to be a good poacher and a hard worker, deserving to start.
Sure there’s room for improvement, we need reinforcements in defense and a striker, but there’s signs of jelling into a fairly decent side.
Hopefully we can avoid injuries, by using a platooning system, resting those with minor injuries, at the same time giving match practice to others,
as we still don’t have real quality in depth.
Looking for a finish similar to that of last year, as we are not a top six side, but it’s nice to be up there for a change and it was good to see the side playing an entertaining style to-day.
.
chuck(Quote)
The Kid,
Saw that the Blackburn fans organised a march to get the manager out too? 😀
Sh*t, actually, just remembered I have a tenner on Agent Bruce to go first….
Moreno(Quote)
THE LEGEND OF BEST.
I have nothing else to add.
funkyjesus(Quote)
The best thing is, we only have to wait a few days for our next footy fix. You dirty horrible junkies.
Moreno(Quote)
Thanks The Kid.
Agree that Hoilett is a canny player like.
Sounds like they wont get much of a confidence boost from their performance today, got fortunate with a couple og’s.
Hopefully we can carry on from todays game and destroy them.
Looking forwards to it.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
@toonsy
aye, HD? could you pass over the link..
I tend to stick to livefooty as ive ruined many P.C’s with viruses, lots with family images on..D’oh! so I dnt trust all links.
Probably the porn tho where the viruses came from lol
mark(Quote)
What I really liked about today’s game is that we played it on the floor, no hoofing it up the pitch. I think that plays to Cabaye and Tiote’s strengths and should keep Shola out of the team.
GS(Quote)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnCntiMHrUQ
Just seen this. Best preview to date
The Kid(Quote)
Mark – It was the one Batty posted
toonsy(Quote)
Special mention for Tim Krul is in order. His distribution today was first class. Played it short to full-back 75% of the time.If he fixes his distribution he will become one of the Prem’s top keepers.
The Kid(Quote)
@toonsy..
ah, I used it, was canny but it froze on 75mins, reverted back to the tried and trusted..
mark(Quote)
The Kid
hear hear m8. I doubted him a little tbh b4 the season started. But I’m totally comfortable with his as No1. Very reassuring performance from him.
mark(Quote)
BB@17
Best goal celebration
nutmag(Quote)
cabaye speaks..
I think it & is a good point. It was much better than Monday (against QPR),” he told We played well today and we had opportunities to score several goals, but they had a good keeper
“We wanted to play much higher than on Monday. We knew we had to shoot on target to have the chance to score a goal. We played well and were unlucky not to win.
“Unfortunately for me I did not score, but I have to keep trying to shoot and hope to score very soon. I like to be on the edge of the box, to finish and I was very close today.
“I will keep working and I hope a goal for me will come in the next game.”
mark(Quote)
lol youve got to love Barton
“I bet u Kelvin Henry feels like an idiot again today. He should just keep his trap firmly shut. #sundayleagueplayer” (101gg note: it is Karl Henry not Kelvin.)
“‘Wolves snubbed me’ I read in this morning papers hahahahahaha….don’t know what Mick’s been smoking……#hesoffhisbarnet #porkypies”
mark(Quote)
lol even better from Joey
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/shaun-derry-gets-hit-with-water-bottle-during-interview-post-wolves-win-15420651/
quality
mark(Quote)
Bring on Forest, they are second bottom or something, bit like the mackems. 😉
DJG(Quote)
DJG – We’ll probably lose. Steve McClaren will suddenyl find his mojo 😕
toonsy(Quote)
Cabaye is class.
*Cue scathing condescending reply*
Indian Ocean ToonArmy(Quote)
Excellent performance – to go a goal down away to Villa and fight back to the point where we ended up dominating + feeling disappointed that we didnt win, is seriously encouraging. No coincidence that this happened when Tiote and Cabaye clicked … Tiote was operating at normal speed rather than the slowed down version witnessed last few weeks. Belta.
TOONPIPES(Quote)
Moreno,
Aye Warnock did have a canny game, despite gabby giving him a dead leg early doors.I think obertan relieves a lot of pressure with his running, as well as dragging players out of position and creating space. A lot of his runs today ended in him coming inside and playing a short pass, rather than beating someone and whipping a ball in. People don’t see this as him doing anything special, but it stretches play and affords Cabaye et al time on the ball. I would like to see him getting to the byline a bit more but I’ll not slate him for not doing it…yet
KillyMag(Quote)
So does anyone give any credit to Pardew, for getting the m/f playing further up the pitch? For not tinkering too much with the starting line up, for keeping faith with Besty etc.
I think he is doing a good job with the squad that he has
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Great game today, we looked 100 times better than Monday. Really chuffed not just with the result but the way we played. Wondering what Troy thought of Cabaye’s performance today?
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Nutmag @ 46, cheers mate.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Deb,
Troy will obviously think Cabaye isnt that good, still. And he’s got a good point, Cabaye’s had only a couple of good games for us so far. But, judging from his background and his real worth (approx 12mill euros), it’s obvious to me that he is CLASS. Just needs time to show…
Indian Ocean ToonArmy(Quote)
and wow, barca are on FIRE!
Indian Ocean ToonArmy(Quote)
Indian Ocean Toon Army – think he is showing enough for us to think he’s a class act just needs time to adapt to the premiership, his team mates and we’re also still developing Pardew’s new style of play.
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Well its good to see a match where we actually played well for a change.
The improvement in general performance is by far the most important thing about this match.
We simply couldn’t continue to play as badly as we have recently and keep expecting points.
If we can now become more consistant and also a bit more clinical in front of goal we can at least put out a first 11 of decent quality.
Our depth is still poor though and we are still weak at fullback.
We will have to keep our fingers crossed we get no more injuries before January.
Cabaye looked the part today. If he can continue in that vein he will perhaps fulfil the huge expectations many have already placed on his shoulders.
I still hope he can eventually be our new Robert Lee but its still early yet, I hope people don’t get carried away too soon and expect too much yet.
Villa looked below par but you can only play what’s in front of you and that shouldn’t detract too much from a much more solid performance.
Pootle(Quote)
What’s the Barca score now? Switched it on about half an hour ago and it was 5-0 and still had most of second half to go – so switched over again
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Agree Pootle
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Deb – Was 8-0 not so long ago.
toonsy(Quote)
Deb @ 56 >
Troy Stavers
September 17, 2011 at 17:23
That performance was great!
Dominated Villa and how we didn’t come away with 3 points I do not know.
Anyone this week who wants to praise Cabaye for an excellent performance won’t get any stick from me.
Best is looking the part nowadays and is always looking dangerous.
I’m not even going to mention any weaknesses, there were a few but that performance deserves nothing but praise!
Get in!
Toon! Toon!
Big Dave(Quote)
” Cabaye is class. *Cue scathing condescending reply*”
Wow. So **** stirring makes you morally superior somehow?
Seems at least as trolly to me, but there you go.
Pootle(Quote)
BB I think Pards deserves alot of credit for more than just the MF etc, I think Pards has super man management skills that we the Fans wont really get to see how important they are
Big Dave(Quote)
Feels strange seeing Norwich and QPR in the Prem again.
Keep expecting Swindon and Sheff Wed to pop up in the table!
Moreno(Quote)
Evening Pootle.
A lot of positives today, I just hope Pardew doesn’t let the players get carried away. In today’s age of social media, the fans get carried away very easily and take the players with them….Danny Simpson England call-up being a prime example.
Moreno(Quote)
Moreno – And Oldham 😀
toonsy(Quote)
Just sent this in to skysports…
“I would just like to say that Matt Le Tissier’s analysis of this game on Sky Sports News was nothing short of disgraceful.
I suggest he look at the stats or better still, watch the game again and apologise to everyone watching the show.
I have never seen a man grimace and pull faces as much as him in my life when it called for praise to be given to NUFC. He claims NUFC had ‘a couple of chances near the end’ and then on the skysports website we see Shay Given was their Man of the Match….funny that?
If I wasn’t doing my job properly my employers would look at this and I suggest sky sports do the same with this absolute joke of a pundit.”
Hope it gets put under the leon best article they are running but I have never had a comment published yet…lol
Moreno(Quote)
Aye Toonsy, Oldham!
Their players weren’t even worth keeping for swaps in the sticker collection!
Moreno(Quote)
Moreno, you forgot to mention that he’s also got a face like a bulldog licking **** off a nettle. It’s not suitable for television (except after the watershed with a strong warning beforehand)
Pootle(Quote)
He’s a right **** like.
To be honest the 4 of them are. The only reasonable one is Rodney Marsh. I dunno how Jeff puts up with the set of twats
Moreno(Quote)
Thought it was a totally dominant performance considering we were the away team. Some of the other sites (Express, Givemefootball) who all appear to copy each others reports would have you believe we held Villa and that if it wasn’t for Bent’s bad day at the office we’d have been sent packing. This video http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~2454335,00.html even suggests we were “Plucky”. I’ve seen some people giving both Jonas and Obertan some stick but I though they played well, Jonas was deep quite a lot, helping Taylor out as we’d wanted him to do against QPR, Obertan had the beating of Warnock on occasions and thought he showed good spirit. Ba could have been better, Tiote definitely getting up to speed and Best did his “best” not to score as his goal went off Given following his save, he hit it straight at him again and got a bit lucky,…..was he being composed? looked really slow to me. Cabaye was spot on…..
julio laker(Quote)