Match report: Newcastle 0-1 Aston Villa

There is a reason why Aston Villa were so desperate to hijack Johan Manzambi’s proposed move from Freiburg to Newcastle this summer which appeared nailed on.

The tall, quick, tricky, clever and perfectly balanced 21-year-old Switzerland attacking midfielder looked worth every penny of the record £50m plus fee Villa ended up paying for and duly delighted in showing Tynesiders what they missed.

90+5 min An inadvertent standing-foot poke from Barnes turns into a decent pass to Gonzalez, whose first-time shot from distance is blocked.

90+4 min Villa break three on three, but Jackson takes a bit too long and eventually has a shot blocked.

90 min: Newcastle substitution Dan Burn replaces Joelinton and goes straight up front. Six minutes of added time.

90 min: Just wide from Mbaye! A thrilling run from Mbaye, who roasts Miley, then cuts across another defender before reversing a shot just wide.

86 min Thiaw ends a Villa break by flattening Mbaye. He’s booked.

85 min: Big chance for Nwwcastle! Wissa runs at a backpedalling Villa defence, all the way into the area. He has Barnes in a great position to his right but goes for goal himself and shoots just wide. That was a terrific chance.

84 min Barnes’ snapshot on the turn is blocked, as is Mbaye’s shot at the other end.

83 min: Chance for Mbaye! Mbaye misses an excellent chance to seal victory, lifting over from a tight angle after good play from McGinn and Barkley.

83 min Plenty of Newcastle pressure now, albeit on the desperate and impatient side. They have seven minutes plus added time to find an equaliser.

81 min In fact it was one of Unai Emery’s coaching team who was booked, not the man himself.

80 min Joelinton nicks the ball off Mings on the right edge of the area and cuts it back towards Wissa. He blasts well wide of the near post.

79 min I think Unai Emery has also just been booked.

78 min Pau Torres is immediately sent flying by Osula, who is booked.

77 min: Villa substitution Villa’s problems at left-back just got worse: Aaron Wan-Bissaka has limped off to be replaced by Pau Torres. Looks like a hamstring injury, and a pretty bad one because he’s being helped from the field.

75 min Newcastle break from the resulting corner and Cash, the last defender, makes a superb challenge on Osula.

74 min: Fine save by Hornicek! Jackson runs at Botman in the area and has a shot blocked. The ball rebounds to Barkley, who cuts across an excellent drive from 25 yards. Hornicek plunges to his right to push it round the post; that’s an excellent stop.

73 min “I could never really decide about Nichlas Jackson at Chelsea - he seemed to get into good positions a lot, with limited end product and a propensity to pick up daft cards,” writes Benjamin Gravestock. “Am increasingly convinced he might actually be the real deal, though. Biggest compliment to him is that we aren’t really missing Ollie Watkins.

“I was among those who thought that Emi Martinez’ time to move on was probably right, even last year; I was hoping for James Trafford, but am extremely happy the club secured Suzuki. Whisper it, but both Jackson and Suzuki might actually be upgrades…”

Jackson could be more ruthless, I guess, but his movement and link play are superb. And you’d imagine that, like Watkins, he’ll only improve under Emery.

72 min: Triple substitution for Aston Villa Ross Barkley, Leon Goretzka and Ibrahim Mbaye replace Emi Buendia, Joao Gomes and the goalscorer Johan Manzambi.,

69 min Barnes’ first-time shot from distance is well blocked on the edge of the D. Moments later, Miley’s cross is headed up in the air towards Wissa, whose sweetly struck scissor-kick is crucially blocked on the six-yard line.

68 min An excellent cross from Cash is put behind for a corner by Miley. It’s half cleared to Cash, who blooters well wide from 25 yards.

66 min Villa started the game in 17th place. If it stays like this they’ll jump to 12th, behind Newcastle on goals scored.

64 min Miley’s clipped cross is headed over from 10 yards by Wissa. Good play from Miley and a decent effort.

63 min The impressive Hall does well to stop Jackson’s angled through ball reaching Manzambi.

61 min Next goal’s a big goal. It’s been more even since half time, but St James’ Park could turn if Villa make it 2-0.

Joelinton, on a yellow card, runs into Kamara and is penalised. Just a free-kick.

58 min A deep cross from Toure is claimed impressively under pressure by Suzuki.

57 min: Double substitution for Newcastle Will Osula and Baz Toure replace Joe Willock and Matias Fernandez-Pardo.

55 min Wissa is booked for a late challenge on the keeper Suzuki.

54 min Manzambi cuts inside from the right, beats two players and hits a left-foot shot that is blocked, possibly by his teammate Buendia.

53 min Gonzalez is booked for a brazen tactical foul on McGinn.

52 min Barnes wins a corner for Newcastle, who have made a strong start to the second half. Barnes’ inswinger is headed away at the near post.

47 min “Evening Rob,” writes Simon McMahon. “In another convoluted attempt to shoehorn Dundee United into the Guardian liveblog, daughter Evie and partner Ryan are in Seville tonight, watching Real Betis play Barcelona in La Liga. 2-1 to Barca at half time, Lamine Yamal and Rodri on the scoresheet. Maybe Betis should bring on John Clark and Iain Ferguson at the break, I’ve no doubt Evie will be lecturing the locals on United’s record v Barcelona in Europe, not least to deflect from the current side’s failure to beat St. Johnstone in Perth today...”

46 min Villa have made a half-time substitution: John McGinn for Alysson, who was on a yellow card.

That tackle from Sven Botman on Nicolas Jackson looks worse every time you see it – “a disgraceful challenge”, in the words of Jamie Redknapp on Sky Sports.

Apparently the VAR, Stuart Attwell, decided it was reckless rather than dangerous.

“Hmmm, not great watching from an Matthias Jaissle fan club perspective,” writes Chris Paraskevas. “Joelinton hasn’t had the desired effect of shoring up our midfield, which is frequently wide open while trying to play a bizarrely high line against Nicolas Jackson, who thrives off playing off the shoulder.

“The interesting thing is that there are genuine options on the bench: Dedic, Steur, Osula, Toure, Burn and Murphy can all possess their own unique qualities.

“A big issue for MJ is that no-one out there looks like a bona-fide match winner in the Bruno G, Athony G or The Other Bloke mould: the scaling back on proven quality has been sudden and substantial.

“So, it hasn’t quite turned out as it said it would in the brochure, but simultaneously... it’s not as if MJ is inhereting a poor squad.

“Big, big second half coming up.”

Premier League match reports

• Brentford 1-2 Liverpool

• Everton 0-2 Chelsea

• Fulham 1-0 Hull

• Man City 3-2 Ipswich

45 min A reminder that Villa lost more than half the XI that started last season’s Europa League final. I thought it would take Unai Emery a full season to build an effective new side; instead, it looks like he’s done it before the clocks go back.

43 min Replays suggest Jackson may have been fouled by Gonzalez, but nobody really appealed for a free-kick. Strange.

42 min Barnes stumbles into the six-yard box, forcing Suzuki into a slightly ungainly clearance with his right foot. There was a risk of a ricochet off Barnes and back into the net, but Suzuki got away with it.

Moments later Jackson loses his footing on the edge of the area after another very dangerous break.

38 min Apparently Newcastle have conceded in their last 16 home games, setting a new and entirely unwelcome club record.

Manzambi, who Newcastle were so keen to sign in the summer, has headed Villa in front. It was all a bit too easy. Joao Gomes, on the right, had time to curl a cross to the far post, where Manzambi pulled away from Thiaw and powered a header through the hand of Hornicek.

34 min Hornicek has to come out of his area to head a through ball away from Alysson. He follows through into Alysson with his head and goes down. There are a few boos from the home fans – Alysson is on a yellow, but he didn’t do much wrong there.

33 min Free-kick to Newcastle on the left. Hall swings it deep, Botman’s header is blocked and Wissa’s improvised follow-up loops over the bar.

29 min Manzambi leads a three-on-two break before picking out Jackson to his left. He shapes a shot towards the far corner that hits Botman and spins behind for a corner. That was another decent chance for Villa.

28 min Alysson evades a challenge from Joelinton, falls over and is booked for simulation.

27 min Wissa has a shot blocked in the D after a nice bit of footwork. Villa break and Alysson tries to run the last defender Hall, who wins the ball back with cool authority. He really is a terrific player.

25 min Loud cheers from the home fans as Joao Gomes is booked for a cynical foul on Fernandez-Pardo. There’s an edge to this game.

23 min Gonzalez wins the ball high up the field and gives it to Barnes, whose low cross is kicked behind by Lindelof. The corner ends in the hands of Suzuki

20 min Botman’s yellow card stands. On Sky Sports, Chris Sutton said he’s “very fortunate” to stay on the pitch.

18 min Joelinton and Botman are both booked for flying tackles in the space of a few seconds. The referee originally played the advantage, but stopped play when Botman wiped out Jackson (I think) with his studs showing. Botman’s challenge is being checked by VAR.

16 min At the other end, Manzambi flicks a terrific pass to the underlapping Cash, whose shot is deflected into the side netting. A goalkick is wrongly awarded.

15 min Hall finds the underlapping Willock, who hit the side netting from a near impossible angle. You’d usually expect a cross in that situation but I think he was trying to catch Suzuki out at the near post.

14 min Another good Villa break is thwarted by an excellent interception from Hall, who read and cut out Jackson’s attempted through pass to Alysson.

13 min Villa have had the best chance but Newcastle have most of the running early on.

9 min: Chance for Jackson! Villa break ruthlessly from a Newcastle corner, with Alysson waving a fine pass to put Jackson through on goal. At first Jackson shows excellent composure, turning away from the recovering Barnes on the edge of the area, but then he flicks a tame shot straight at Hornicek.

7 min Barnes cuts across the Villa defence and is about to shoot from the edge of the area when Kamara makes an excellent tackle. Newcastle have started on the front foot.

4 min Fernandez-Pardo runs at Wan-Bissaka and drives a dangerous low cross that just evades the stretching Willock in the middle. Lindelof makes an important clearance.

2 min In fact Newcastle have started with Fernandez-Pardo on the right and Willock in a more central position behind Wissa.

Newcastle (4-2-3-1) Hornicek; Miley, Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Gonzalez, Joelinton; Fernandez-Pardo, Willock, Barnes; Wissa.

1 min Peep peep! Villa kick off from left to right as we watch.

A reminder of the teams It looks like Joe Willock will play on the right wing for Newcastle, with Joelinton in midfield alongside Nico Gonzalez.

Newcastle (4-2-3-1) Hornicek; Miley, Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Gonzalez, Joelinton; Willock, Wissa, Barnes; Fernandez-Pardo.

Subs: Pope, Schar, Bamba, Osula, Steur, Toure, Murphy, Burn, Dedic.

Aston Villa (4-2-3-1) Suzuki; Cash, Lindelof, Mings, Wan-Bissaka; Kamara, Joao Gomes; Alysson, Manzambi, Buendia; Jackson.

Subs: Harwood-Bellis, Barkley, McGinn, Pau Torres, Mbaye, Bogarde, Goretzka, Madjo, Bizot.

Referee Jarred Gillett.

Fulham 1-0 Hull

“Am I allowed to exhale all over your blog, simply because my partner is away and I have no other place to release my tension!” writes Richard Hirst.

“Third game in a row that Fulham have entered the final five minutes 1-0 up, and we all know what happened in the other two. Even today we mentioned to make a two zillion shots to four a nail biter. Still, we’re on our way; Europe here we come!”

I like that your question didn’t actually include a question mark. Exhale away!

“G’day Rob,” writes Chris Paraskevas. “Hope you’re well! Bit of a brutal turnaround for this match with a 3.30am kick off. I did manage to squeeze in an hour’s sleep, not that it’ll make a difference because he weather is getting warmer in Sydney, which means our old friend the neighbourhood parrot provides my daily alarm nice and early...anyway, *happy thoughts*...Xmas is on the horizon and I’ll feel more balanced once I’ve decided on its present.

“Back to business and the more PIF & MJ follow up calamitous defeats with the ‘vertical Football’ line, the more you wonder what they’re actually talking about? Is it part of a metaphor for the squad building mountain they need to climb? Does MJ want them to go ‘Up-N’-Under’ as per the cult 1998 Rugby League movie?

I don’t know, and I don’t even care - if it actually means Dan Burn, Sven Botman and Shola Ameobi form the front three today and we bulldoze / punt our way to victory, let’s just bloody win.

“HTL.”

Unai Emery on rotating his Villa squad

The rotation is coming when the players are ready to play in our demands. This is the only difference. We made some changes on Wednesday after the match we played on Saturday.

Some players may be tired, some can feel some pain, not injuries but maybe pain. We need players to be 100%, not 80%.

Matthias Jaissle’s pre-match thoughts

The lads know they need to show a reaction, we need to show a reaction as a team and I’m optimistic we can do that at home. We are aware of what we are facing but at home, with our crowd at our backs, we can hurt every opponent.

[On Sean Steur] He’s knocking on the door due to his quality, he’s shown that in training sessions. This is a player who I believe will give us so much joy and fun in the future. But he needs time. He’s had ups and downs already this season. He should continue developing.

Premier League latest

• Brentford 1-0 Liverpool

• Fulham 1-0 Hull

• Man City 2-1 Ipswich

• Everton 0-2 Chelsea (FT)

Newcastle’s latest attempt to play vertical football left Matthias Jaissle’s side horizontal at Coventry on Monday night. That 4-1 defeat has prompted quite an inquest on Tyneside, where Jaissle could do without his players falling flat on their faces once more when Aston Villa visit St James’ Park. Jaissle maintains that his vertical football is the brand of high-octane, aggressive attacking that Newcastle’s hierarchy believes should become the club’s default, and is the way fans want to see the team play.

That argument is not without validity but it is also worth remembering that, less than a decade ago, under Rafael Benítez’s charge, Newcastle often played a low block bolstered by three at the back, rarely took unnecessary risks and improved steadily. Admittedly resources were thinner then but the fans almost universally adored Benítez and were heartbroken when he eventually tired of Mike Ashley’s ownership and resigned.

Quite apart from making his dislike for chaotic football plain, the Spaniard was a realist who knew a gung-ho approach would spell relegation. Granted, tactical fashions have changed, but Jaissle could do worse than slow things down a bit and search for his inner Rafa against Villa.