Aston Villa struggled for a half-hour, with the absence of Jack Grealish painfully clear.
After an opening weekend setback against Watford, it appeared as if their bad start to the season would continue into a second weekend. However, in the form of home debutant Danny Ings, Villa may have found the man to compensate for the loss of their star.
Dean Smith’s team did not deserve to be in front at the break, but they did so thanks to an improvised stroke of brilliance from their new £20 million striker. Villa placed a throw into Newcastle’s penalty area in the third minute of injury time, where Tyrone Mings leapt higher than Jamaal Lascelles.
Ings had spun into space ahead of the flick and exploited that space to score his second goal of the season with an acrobatic overhead kick. It was far more vital this time than his 97th-minute consolation against Watford.
Villa were on their way to a deserving victory, which was capped off by Anwar El Ghazi’s penalty. After a dreadful start, the victory felt like a formality in the end. Not that the home fans would have thought so.
Dean Smith was without Ollie Watkins and Bertrand Traore but walked away with three points
Source: Daily Mail