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Danny Ings scored a superb acrobatic volley on his Aston Villa home debut as they recorded a deserved victory over Newcastle to bounce back from their opening-day defeat at Watford.
In the only moment of genuine quality in a scrappy first half, Ings sent an unstoppable bicycle kick into the corner of Freddie Woodman's net after connecting perfectly with Tyrone Mings' flick-on.
Villa made the brighter start to the second half and doubled their lead through Anwar El Ghazi's penalty, awarded by referee David Coote after being instructed by VAR to go to his pitchside monitor to review a Jamaal Lascelles handball from Mings' header.
Coote awarded Newcastle a penalty of their own following Emi Martinez's late challenge on Callum Wilson, but VAR ruled that the 29-year-old striker had strayed offside in the build-up and the decision was overturned.
Wilson had missed a glorious opportunity to put the visitors ahead after just five minutes, curling wide as Villa's players appealed for a foul by the 29-year-old on Mings.
The defeat was Newcastle's 13th in the league in 2021 - only Southampton and Burnley have lost more among current top-flight teams.
VAR interventions cost Magpies following Ings stunner
Both teams lost high-scoring encounters on the opening weekend of the campaign - Villa 3-2 at Watford, Newcastle 4-2 at home to West Ham - but until Ings' strike, there was little goalmouth action at Villa Park.
El Ghazi and Wilson had early chances but the game became disjointed thereafter, with both sides giving away possession on a regular basis.
But Ings' goal - scored with the game's first shot on target - was worth the wait.
The former Southampton man was first to Mings' flick-on from Matty Cash's long throw-in, lashing a sweetly struck volley past Newcastle goalkeeper Woodman to send the 42,000 fans inside Villa Park into raptures.
Steve Bruce's side showed little sign of mounting a recovery after El Ghazi had doubled the hosts' lead, although they found themselves on the wrong end of a marginal offside decision which - had it gone the Magpies' way - would have given Wilson the chance to reduce the arrears from the spot.
After failing to muster a single effort on target throughout the 90 minutes, however, the Magpies can have few complaints with the result.
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Aston Villa
Squad number1Player nameMartínez
Squad number2Player nameCash
Squad number4Player nameKonsa
Squad number5Player nameMings
Squad number18Player nameYoung
Squad number7Player nameMcGinn
Squad number6Player nameDouglas Luiz
Squad number41Player nameRamsey
Squad number10Player nameBuendía
Squad number20Player nameIngs
Squad number21Player nameEl Ghazi
Squad number9Player nameWesley
Squad number16Player nameTuanzebe
Squad number32Player namePhilogene-Bidace
Newcastle United
Squad number27Player nameWoodman
Squad number23Player nameMurphy
Squad number5Player nameSchär
Squad number6Player nameLascelles
Squad number18Player nameFernández
Squad number11Player nameRitchie
Squad number28Player nameWillock
Squad number14Player nameHayden
Squad number24Player nameAlmirón
Squad number9Player nameWilson
Squad number10Player nameSaint-Maximin
Squad number7Player nameJoelinton
Squad number21Player nameFraser
Squad number36Player nameS Longstaff
Line-ups
Aston Villa
Formation 4-3-3
- 1MartínezBooked at 75mins
- 2Cash
- 4Konsa
- 5Mings
- 18Young
- 7McGinn
- 6Douglas LuizBooked at 45minsSubstituted forTuanzebeat 88'minutes
- 41Ramsey
- 10BuendíaBooked at 85minsSubstituted forPhilogene-Bidaceat 86'minutes
- 20IngsSubstituted forWesleyat 90+1'minutes
- 21El Ghazi
Substitutes
- 3Targett
- 9Wesley
- 12Steer
- 14Hourihane
- 16Tuanzebe
- 19Nakamba
- 30Hause
- 32Philogene-Bidace
- 33Chukwuemeka
Newcastle
Formation 5-3-2
- 27Woodman
- 23MurphyBooked at 57mins
- 5SchärBooked at 84mins
- 6Lascelles
- 18FernándezSubstituted forJoelintonat 78'minutes
- 11Ritchie
- 28WillockSubstituted forFraserat 90'minutes
- 14HaydenBooked at 45minsSubstituted forS Longstaffat 45'minutes
- 24Almirón
- 9WilsonBooked at 41mins
- 10Saint-Maximin
Substitutes
- 2Clark
- 7Joelinton
- 12Lewis
- 16Hendrick
- 17Krafth
- 21Fraser
- 29Gillespie
- 34Gayle
- 36S Longstaff
Referee:David Coote
Attendance:41,964
Live Text
Match ends, Aston Villa 2, Newcastle United 0.
Second Half ends, Aston Villa 2, Newcastle United 0.
Attempt saved. Joelinton (Newcastle United) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Matt Ritchie with a cross.
Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Jacob Ramsey.
Fabian Schär (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Wesley (Aston Villa).
Attempt missed. Callum Wilson (Newcastle United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Matt Ritchie with a cross.
Attempt missed. Ryan Fraser (Newcastle United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Miguel Almirón.
Attempt missed. Anwar El Ghazi (Aston Villa) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by John McGinn following a set piece situation.
Foul by Fabian Schär (Newcastle United).
Jaden Philogene-Bidace (Aston Villa) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution, Aston Villa. Wesley replaces Danny Ings.
Substitution, Newcastle United. Ryan Fraser replaces Joseph Willock.
Foul by Sean Longstaff (Newcastle United).
John McGinn (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Aston Villa. Axel Tuanzebe replaces Douglas Luiz.
Substitution, Aston Villa. Jaden Philogene-Bidace replaces Emiliano Buendía.
Emiliano Buendía (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Joseph Willock (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Emiliano Buendía (Aston Villa).
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