After hitting Fenerbahce for six on Wednesday, Villa produced more of a defensive performance against Newcastle United and sealed a crucial 1–0 win, their second victory of the Premier League season.
Here are the match ratings from a successful trip up north:
Zion Suzuki: 8/10
Villa’s goalkeeper did not have much to do, but made a crucial save in denying Sven Botman’s powerful strike, getting enough on it using only his fingertips to push it past the post. Suzuki commanded his box well throughout and helped start some attacks with his trademark passing ability.
Matty Cash: 8/10
Cash deserves this rating purely for the tackle he made on William Osula to thwart a Newcastle counter-attack and help keep the game at 1-0.
Victor Lindelof: 9/10
Lindelof was awarded Man of the Match by the fans and no one could argue he did not deserve the acclaim. He was colossal in the centre of defence and was crucial to Villa getting over the line, making one important intervention after another and leading Villa's build-up from the back.
Tyrone Mings: 7/10
Mings did not produce the same kind of heroics as Lindelof but was also a vital part of Villa’s defensive performance. He deserves credit for filling in at left-back for the final 15 minutes, even if he did look a bit shaky there.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka: 7/10
The full-back injury curse struck Villa again as Wan-Bissaka was forced off with what looked like a hamstring. It was a shame as he seemed to settle in on the left side in this game, not just through his usually clean defensive work, but also in getting forward and contributing in attack.
Boubacar Kamara: 8/10
Talk of Kamara not being his old self after another knee injury can be put to bed. He has strung together multiple strong performances and is looking like the player many Villa fans believe is the best on the team.
Joao Gomes: 8/10
Gomes looked overwhelmed at times early in the game but grew into the contest, battled hard, picked out some line-breaking passes and most importantly, assisted the winning goal with a lovely, floated cross.
Alysson: 6/10
Making his first Premier League start, Alysson created a great chance for Nicolas Jackson through pure determination in the first half. He was also booked for diving and had to be substituted at half-time as he was walking a bit of a tightrope.
Johan Manzambi: 8/10
This may have not been as scintillating a performance from Manzambi as the Fenerbahce game, but once again he was in the right place at the right time to provide the decisive, match-winning moment. Manzambi is quickly becoming a star.
Emi Buendia: 6/10
It was a fairly quiet game from Buendia. He was not bad by any means, and worked tirelessly as he always does, but was not especially impactful in attack, and his deflected shot which hit the post appeared to be going straight at the goalkeeper if not for the initial ricochet off a defender.
Nicolas Jackson: 6/10
Frankly, it was strange Jackson was given Man of the Match by the Premier League, as this was possibly his worst game in the last few.
That is mostly because he has set a very high bar, and he was still an important part of the victory, but he had a tougher time holding the ball up, made some wrong decisions to shoot rather than pass, and meekly hit his best chance straight at the ‘keeper.
John McGinn: 7/10
McGinn came on at half-time for Alysson and was impactful at both ends, helping Villa keep a clean sheet and springing attacks with his patented move of backing into a defender before spinning away from them.
Ibrahim Mbaye: 7/10
Mbaye was a live wire when he came on and gave Villa a credible counter-attack threat in the closing stages. He should have put the game out of reach with one of his two chances, but he narrowly missed the target on both occasions after doing the hard part to get in position.
Ross Barkley: 6/10
Barkley gave the ball away too often after coming on to try and help Villa regain control of the contest in the last 15 minutes. He was however unlucky not to score with an outside-foot shot from range which was well saved.
Leon Goretzka: 5/10
Goretzka was satisfactory in his cameo performance but nothing especially stood out. Hopefully he will get his first start for the club against Viking in midweek.
Pau Torres: 5/10
After replacing the injured Wan-Bissaka, Torres looked in danger of suffering a similar fate due to a crunching challenge made on him almost immediately after entering the pitch. He helped Villa close out their clean sheet but was not overly involved.
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