Newcastle United moved back up to 5th place in the Premier League table with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa at the Sports Direct Arena on Sunday as the Senegalese duo lit up Tyneside. Demba Ba returned from the African Cup of Nations to pick up where he left off as he scored the opener on 30 minutes. Aston Villa levelled the game at the end of the first half through their best player, Robbie Keane.•But the new Number 9 at Newcastle, Papiss Demba Cisse scored a goal on debut as his brilliant 2nd half half-volley put Newcastle 2-1 up. Villa launched a late fight back as substitute Gary Gardner twice came close in the closing stages, but Newcastle held on for their 7th home win of the season.
Demba Ba returned from the African Cup Nation’s to slot straight into the starting line-up, where he partnered Leon Best in a two-pronged attack. Yohan Cabaye’s absence through suspension meant that James Perch partnered Danny Guthrie in central midfield while Jonas Gutierrez and Ryan Taylor occupied the wide positions. In defence, Fabricio Coloccini and Michael Williamson were the central defensive pairing while Danny Simpson and Davide Santon were the starting full-backs.
Alex McLeish made no changes from the side that drew 2-2 with QPR as Darren Bent and Robbie Keane continued their partnership up front. Charles N’Zogbia and Stephen Ireland were the attacking threats from midfield while Stiliyan Petrov and Ciaran Clark controlled the centre. Carlos Cuellar and Richard Dunne were the starting centre-backs while Alan Hutton and Stephen Warnock held the full-back slots. Shay Given made an emotional return to a ground were he spent more than 12 years.
The game was a slow burner as both sides struggled to get into any rhythm. Villa’s plan in a nutshell was to lob the ball towards Bent and hope they could build play up from there, while Newcastle were trying to slide balls between the Villa defenders. The first save of the day went to Tim Krul as the Dutchman was forced to keep out Bent’s strike from the left after Keane played a delightful through-ball. Minutes later Petrov fired an effort straight at goal as Krul made a comfortable save.
By this time, Best had taken a knock on his knee and had to be brought off as the Geordie faithful got their first glimpse of Papiss Demba Cisse. The new signing immediately got into the act as he registered Newcastle’s first real effort with a header from Taylor’s cross. But Villa were still a threat on the counter as Bent beat the offside trap to collect a through-ball, but once again Krul was up to the task as he kept out the England International’s effort.
With the clock ticking towards the half-hour mark, the ball flew to Ba a few yards from goal and the striker marked his return with a typically clinical finish for his 16th goal of the season. Guthrie put the ball into the box from the left and after a bout of ping-pong, Taylor’s shot ended at the feet of Ba. Sadly, Taylor had to be stretchered off after he was caught in the follow-up as Alan Pardew made his 2nd substitution of the first half.
Newcastle went into the break at 1-1 after Keane scored in added time to take his tally to 3 goals since joining from LA Galaxy. The Irishman fed N’Zogbia down the left and as the winger played a ball into the box, Keane turned up right on the money to crash the ball past Krul.
The Magpies made a strong start to the 2nd half, winning all the 2nd balls and 50-50 tackles. There were a couple of half-chances from long range shots, with Guthrie and Obertan shooting wide. On the hour mark, Cisse had a great chance to get his name into the headlines as found himself unmarked inside the box and with Guthrie playing in a fine cross from the left, a goal seemed certain. But the Senegalese striker contrived to head the ball above goal.
Just as Newcastle were strengthening their grip on the game, Bent reminded them of the threat posed by Villa as he got on the end of Warnock’s cross, but Newcastle luckily had bodies behind the ball to clear any danger. With 72 minutes gone, Cisse made up for that earlier miss with a thunderbolt into the top corner that left Given stranded. Gutierrez played a ball in from the left, Cisse then chested it down before rifling a shot into the top left corner to make it 2-1.
Though Newcastle looked the likelier side to score, with Cisse and Perch coming close, Villa also had pops at goal as Clark forced Krul into a save with a shot from outside the box. Substitute Gary Gardner twice got into promising positions for Villa as he first shot wide before testing Krul with a header from Bannan’s cross from the right. That was the last of the chances as Newcastle held on for three points.
The Magpies refuse to go away in the fight for European places and have temporarily moved level on points with Chelsea. The Senegalese duo were the difference as they both found their goal scoring touch. Guthrie ran the show in the centre for Newcastle and his contribution was vital considering Cabaye’s absence. Villa looked threatening every time Keane got on the ball and he gave them a deserved equalizer. And, it was no coincidence that Newcastle’s rise to prominence in the 2nd half was on the back of Keane fading out of the game. Newcastle move to 5th place Villa stay in 13th.
Teams:
Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon, Ryan Taylor (Obertan 33′), Guthrie, Perch, Gutierrez, Ba (Ameobi 90′), Best (Cisse 14′).
Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Cuellar, Dunne, Warnock, Ireland (Bannan 46′), Petrov, Clark (Gardner 84′), N’Zogbia (Heskey 66′), Keane, Bent.
Final Score: Newcastle 2–1 Aston Villa
Goals: Ba 30′, Keane 45+4′, Cisse 72′
(TheSportsCampus)
