We asked Mark Jankowski to give us his match ratings and player commentary after Newcastle 0 Aston Villa 2.
Pope 7
Made some smart saves, especially one to deny Watkins at 1-0. They had little chance with both goals.
Trippier 5
Some loose passes and poorly delivered crosses hurt us on the right today.
He was also slow to close down Digne for Villa’s second.
Thiaw 7
Made some excellent tackles and blocks throughout the game.
One recovery block on a Leon Bailey shot was brilliant. If that had been van der Ven for Spurs, people would have been talking about it for days.
Botman 6
I think it’s a bit harsh to give Sven a 6, because for the most part he defended well.
He won his aerial duels against Watkins well and often got out of trouble to hold on to the ball.
However, I was able to rewatch the first Villa goal and he was being chased down, giving Buendia too much time to shoot.
Hall 7
Lewis Hall was excellent again today.
My biggest concern for the young man is that we are too dependent on him and if we take a hit in that position it will have a huge negative impact on the team.
Miley 6
He didn’t really take advantage of his opportunity in the middle of the field today and Bruno’s presence was sorely missed.
Miley had a decent game.
However, it is clear that our Captain is still our most important player.
Tonal 6
Like Sven Botman, I rated Tonali a little lower as I felt he could have done more to close out Villa’s opener.
He also missed a golden opportunity in the first minute of the match.
That said, his energy was crucial in the middle of the pitch for large parts of the match and I felt he was missed during the final ten minutes when he was off the pitch.
Joelinton
I’m not sure what planet the referee was on today because it seemed like Joelinton was getting kicked left right and center in the first half and they were constantly allowed to get away with it.
The Brazilian even picked up a yellow card after being knocked down several times by Aston Villa players.
Worryingly, he went off early in the second half and his presence was sorely missed in the lackluster second half performance.
Barnes 5
He will be frustrated with today’s performance given his recent high standards.
At times it looked like he was going to make life difficult for Ian Maatsen down our right side, but it was a fruitless move in front of goal.
He looked inches away from our best chance of the second half after a rare piece of fine play.
Warning 5
After following his man in match performance midweek, it was a disappointing afternoon for our number nine.
His energy levels didn’t seem anywhere near where they were this week and I wonder if it would have been better to start big Nick up front.
Gordon 5
Anthony Gordon didn’t have enough contact with Matty Cash today for my taste.
The Aston Villa right-back is known for his brash challenge and Anthony Gordon failed to put any real pressure on him.
When he attacked Cash he was able to get into some good positions, but his final ball was missing.
Subs
Ramsey 6
Showed some quick feet and smart ball movement in midfield but didn’t really impress when coming on for Joelinton.
The garden
He tried to attack Ian Maatsen whenever he could, but the serve on him wasn’t great and it led to another display with no end product.
Woltemade 6
A few displays of nice feet from the German, but he’s never really had a sniff of gold.
Villa defended their penalty excellently.
Willock
He was at it just long enough to give him a score, but unfortunately it wasn’t that good of a score.
Too often he found himself in positions where he couldn’t receive the ball because he was offside and looked a bit indecisive when he had the ball at his feet.
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