French revolution at Newcastle off to a winning start against Aston Villa

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – JANUARY 29: Newcastle United fans participate in a lighthearted demonstration at the influx of French players to the club during the Barclays Premier League match between Aston Villa and Newcastle United

Newcastle finally won their first away game of the season as they overcame a spirited Aston Villa side to bag all three points. The game, the epitome of what is called a “game of two halves”, with Newcastle utterly dominant in the first half only to let Villa come back into the game, set up an enthralling last half hour of the game.

The Newcastle starting line-up saw two of their new French recruits taking the field, as Yoan Gouffron and Moussa Sissoko made their Premier league debuts. Meanwhile for Aston Villa, Darren Bent and Christian Benteke started a game together for the first time this season.

If the Villa crowd came in expecting an offensive master class with Bent and Benteke, they were in for a rude awakening as the away side hit the ground running. Moussa Sissoko seemed in complete control of the midfield as he bossed his way around, ever aware of the situation around him while making runs at defenders down the lines as well.

Jonas Gutierrez had the first opportunity of the game on 9 minutes when a deflected Mathieu Debuchy cross found its way to the Argentine. However, Gutierrez’s snapshot was blocked by a diving Ciaran Clark. The first real effort on goal came on 15 minutes when a fizzing and dipping effort from Davide Santon forced a good save from Villa’s American custodian, Brad Guzan.

Four minutes later, however, Guzan could do nothing but pick the ball from the net as Papiss Cissé finished coolly; the Senegalese striker was played in to score his fifth of the campaign following a delightful through ball from Sissoko.

Villa’s only chance of the first half came via another Frenchman and ex-Newcastle midfielder, Charles N’Zogbia, who hit a thunderous volley after the ball was laid up to him following a skirmish between Benteke and Coloccini. Tim Krul didn’t have a chance to save the effort; however, the upright was the saviour as Villa were unable to equalise.

The rest of the half was mostly played in the Villa half as Newcastle looked completely dominant, and their persistence was rewarded when Yohan Cabaye slammed in a wonderful volley from the edge of the box to double the lead for the Tynesiders on 31 minutes. A cross from the left from Gutierrez fell kindly for the Frenchman after being headed out of the box by Ron Vlaar. With a swing of his right boot, the Frenchman whizzed a shot into the top corner of Brad Guzan’s goal to score for the second game running since his comeback.

Going into the half, two goals down and, more importantly, down on their spirits, it looked likely the rest of the game was only a formality for Newcastle as they looked favourites to take all three point back home. However, the game turned on its head in the second half as Villa suddenly found the impetus and appetite for the game. Paul Lambert was certainly feeling vindicated as he tweaked the line-up with Weimann and Agbonlahor taking the places of Bennett and Bent just after half-time.

Villa were immediately rewarded when they were awarded a penalty in the 49th minute as Gabriel Agbanlahor went tumbling down from the slightest of touches from Mathieu Debuchy. Referee Mike Dean, however, deemed it to be enough contact to point to the spot. Benteke stepped up and slotted it home with panache, sending Tim Krul the wrong way.

The pace of Agbonlahor on the left, and Weimann’s crossing abilities on the right, were testing Newcastle’s defensive prowess to the limit. Weimann and Benteke took turns to test Newcastle’s Dutch goalkeeper as both looked to find the far corner of the net from the right hand side of the box.

As the game went on, it began to become quite intense and physical with players of both sets losing their heads, forcing Mike Dean to reach for his pocket every now and then. As Villa searched for an equaliser, they began to hoof balls into the penalty box from all angles in the hope of bringing Christian Benteke into play, whom the Newcastle defence were finding tough to handle.

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew celebrates after the Barclays Premier League match between Aston Villa and Newcastle United

Tim Krul came up trumps on 59 minutes when Weimann was set through on goal by a lovely cross field find by Benteke, only to see the Austrian international’s shot scuppered by a combination of James Perch, who closed him down with great vigour, and Tim Krul, to keep Newcastle’s lead intact.

Even when Tim Krul seemed beaten, his team-mates rose to the occasion. On 83 minutes, Gutierrez was at the right spot at the right time as his outstretched legs came in the way of Nathan Baker’s header after the Englishman had rose highest to head in from a corner destined for the bottom corner.

At the final whistle of a quite entertaining game of football, the visitors breathed a huge sigh of relief as Newcastle held on to all three points, which sees them go above Southampton into 15th place and 4 points clear of the relegation zone. Aston Villa now find themselves in the dreaded last three spots after Wigan managed to claw their way back from a two-goal deficit away at the Britannia.