Newcastle United have played out a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at St James Park on Saturday evening.
Newcastle came into the match full of confidence following their wins against Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, and many expected them to have no problems in accounting for an Aston Villa side on only six points.
After a reasonably dull first half, the breakthrough arrived on 38 minutes when a Newcastle corner found its way to the back post and was calmly struck home by captain Fabricio Coloccini.
Villa seemed like a different proposition after the interval and got a deserved equaliser on the hour mark courtesy of a superb strike from Jordan Ayew on the edge of the penalty area.
Formations
Newcastle made no changes from the side that defeated Spurs, with Papiss Cisse and Siem De Jong starting up front as opposed to last weekend’s heroes in Aleksandr Mitrovic and Ayoze Perez.
Aston Villa made one change from last weekend’s defeat to Arsenal, with Rudy Gestede making way for Ashley Westwood. This meant a formation reshuffle from 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 diamond with Remi Garde playing four central midfielders.
Rain drastically alters spectacle
For a large majority of this match, the rain was relentless. Initially, this caused a fast-moving pitch which meant the right-hand side partnership of Daryl Janmaat as Moussa Sissoko for Newcastle never really got going because most through balls would go out for a goal kick. As the rain continued, the pitch began to suffer the opposite effect. For the last 10 minutes of the first half, the pitch seemed very waterlogged, which led to suggestions that the match could be abandoned. Both sets of players seemed to adjust to the conditions post-half time, but the weather impacted the quality of football on show, with Newcastle completing only 67% of their passes. Villa did not fare much better, only completing 76%.
Newcastle wingers swap sides to little effect
As has been the case for the past few matches, Newcastle wingers Sissoko and Georginio Wijnaldum would occasionally swap wings in an attempt to confuse the opposition full-backs. The first time they swapped was on 15 minutes, which was at a time when Newcastle were gaining momentum, so a structure change seemed like a strange choice. Another reason why the change was unnecessary is because of the fact that Sissoko and Janmaat are establishing a strong partnership on the right-hand side, meaning disrupting this partnership was never a good idea.
Aston Villa defending for Coloccini goal reflects table position
If Aston Villa’s goal was top quality, Newcastle’s was scrappy to say the least. Siem De Jong hit a below-par corner which only elevated a few feet from the floor, after Villa failed to deal with a ball that should have been cleared away, the ball found Coloccini at the back post, completely unmarked with approximately five men in claret and blue simply standing there and watching him. The Argentine scored, which would have infuriated Garde. If the Villans are to pull off the greatest of great escapes, these defensive lapses must be eradicated immediately.
Impact of substitutes
Newcastle’s substitutes had little impact off the bench. Florian Thauvin, who was expected to be a big player for Newcastle this season, has been very underwhelming, and in his 20 minute cameo the Frenchman attempted four crosses, only to complete one of them. A 25% complete rate is simply not good enough. Mitrovic and Perez could not repeat their goalscoring exploits from last weekend, with Mitrovic struggling to get involved, while his partner Perez missed a golden chance from 16 yards out late in the second half. Since the weather would have taken a toll on the players physically, it was surprising to see Villa use only one of their available three substitutions. Nonetheless, Gestede had a half hour cameo and was a constant handful for the Magpies. He contested six ariel duals and won five of them. He also had a couple of shots from close-range, only to be foiled by Rob Elliot. It was an impressive appearance from the striker, which was only missing a goal to make it a perfect impact.
Conclusion
Tactically, it is hard to read too much into this match because the role of the rain cannot be underestimated. Neither team will be overly thrilled with this result. The Magpies will see this as two points dropped given their recent form, and while this was an improvement from Villa, they need to start getting three points immediately or else their ever-present record in the Premier League will be over. Newcastle now have another home match on the horizon with the inconsistent Everton on Boxing Day, while Villa return home to face a stuttering West Ham side in a match they must win. Whether Garde chooses to start Gestede or once again use him as an impact player will be an interesting discussion point.
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