Sandro Tonali and Alexander Isak star in Newcastle’s rout of Aston Villa
The fly-on-the-wall documentary We Are Newcastle United may be safe and sanitised but the real thing is anything but. Unvarnished, unspun and viewed with the naked eye, Newcastle are brilliant and brutal, ruthless and relentless. In cameos, Aston Villa suggested they are a very decent team but Unai Emery’s players could not match the edge and desire of hosts who appear to have found a new cult hero in Italy’s Sandro Tonali.
GOAL! Newcastle 5-1 Aston Villa (Barnes 90+1)
— Inside Pitakwa (@PitakwaJobzilla) August 12, 2023
Newcastle score five! Aston Villa’s high line costs them dearly again. Harvey Barnes sprints on to a through ball and slots it past Emi Martinez. It’s dreadful defending from Villa.#NEWAVL pic.twitter.com/6SSj86VZv2
Indeed as an increasingly forlorn Villa manager surveyed the visiting defensive carnage unfolding in front of him, you wondered if Emery regrets rejecting the Newcastle job subsequently accepted by Eddie Howe in November 2021.
Seven minutes into Newcastle’s season St James’ Park began reverberating to triumphalist choruses of “We’re going to win the league.” Sixty seconds earlier Tonali, Howe’s midfield signing from Milan, had finished off a move he had started courtesy of a fine central midfield interception and his new side were ahead. After stretching to connect with a superb cross from the left dispatched by the impressive Anthony Gordon, the Italy international volleyed the ball inexorably beyond Emiliano Martínez.
Premier League LIVE: Luton and Sheffield United get a rude return to top flight as Brighton and Crystal Palace spoil the party, Dominic Solanke pegs back West Ham and Fulham lead at Evertonhttps://t.co/oXSEzCQcFy pic.twitter.com/sITIsj4Rrv
— Inside Pitakwa (@PitakwaJobzilla) August 12, 2023
At that point Newcastle’s high-energy press appeared powered by high-voltage electricity and, from the edge of the technical area, a slightly forlorn looking Emery was left appealing for calm from his players.
Villa needed to regroup but, happily for the manager, an old friend was on hand to help them do so. By way of celebrating his summer move from Bayer Leverkusen, France’s Moussa Diaby duly volleyed an invitingly bouncing ball beyond Nick Pope after being left unattended around 12 yards out. Once again, that goal came from a cross, in this instance flicked on for Diaby by Ollie Watkins.
It was not long before Newcastle regained their lead. Once more Tonali assumed a central role, collecting Kieran Trippier’s short free-kick and lifting it into the area for Sven Botman to extend a leg and hook square for Alexander Isak to prod past Argentina’s goalkeeper from close range.
With Tonali, Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton – who played a lovely one-two with Gordon in the preamble to Tonali’s opener – showing every indication that they will prove a formidable midfield trio, there were periods when Howe’s team seemed irresistible.
Yet Villa are far from shabby themselves and, at times, showed it. Most notably when Diaby and Watkins joined forces to emphasise that Botman and his Newcastle defensive colleagues are mortal after all.
Emery could have done without losing his own central defensive linchpin when Tyrone Mings was taken off on a stretcher with a serious-looking leg injury in the 30th minute after hurting himself in what had at first appeared a routine challenge with Isak.
On came another Villa debutant in Pau Torres. The Spain defender, previously one of Emery’s charges at Villarreal, appeared immediately at home, contributing some assured touches.
Martínez looked rather less composed as he hared way out of his area but ended up being beaten to the ball by Miguel Almirón before pulling the Paraguayan back. Along with most of St James’ Park, Howe demanded a red card but the goalkeeper merely received a booking. It seemed that the referee, Andy Madley, had determined that, with a trio of Villa shirts blocking the route to goal, it was far from a clearcut scoring opportunity.
As Tonali – all sharp, elegant, intelligent, movement – continued to trouble Villa, Isak grew into a game he had started a little slowly. By way of proving the point, the Sweden forward doubled Newcastle’s advantage after Ezri Konsa lost concentration and made an awful hash of subduing a sublime Gordon pass. All that remained was for Isak to intervene, pinch possession and dink the ball over the advancing Martínez.
