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 managing just a single effort on target throughout the 90 minutes, however, the Magpies can have few complaints with the result.
That attempt came in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, when substitute Joelinton sent a tame header into Martinez’s arms.
