Finally... an away win!

A pretty good report on last nights game from NUFC.com

Finally... an away win!

Aston Villa 1 Newcastle 2


Newcastle won this "Cup Final" and their first away game of the season, thanks to a stunning strike by Yohan Cabaye but only after an unbelievably nervous second half at Villa Park on Tuesday evening.

Coasting 2-0 at the break thanks to Papiss Cisse's fifth Premier League goal and Cabaye's belter, United were rocked by an early penalty and then spent the rest of the game hanging on to their slender lead.

Three of Alan Pardew's new signings made an appearance with Yoan Gouffran and Moussa Sissoko starting and acquitting themselves well. Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa replaced Sissoko near the end and fought with the rest of his side to ensure we left with three precious Premier League points.

The first half couldn't have gone any better for the Magpies and Villa were already back-pedalling when Sissoko slotted an inch-perfect ball for Cisse to run onto and slot past Brad Guzan to give us a 19th minute lead.

Bizarrely this meant the home fans stood and applauded as our opener coincided with their tribute to Stiliyan Petrov but the away contingent continued their celebrations long after the home fans had sat back down again.

One of our former Frenchmen, Charles N'Zogbia (kind of thought Zog would have a good game against us, it usually happens with old boys.) thumped an effort that flew back off Tim Krul's post and having survived that, we were able to dominate the game and were well worth a second, which arrived just after the half hour.

The ball was half cleared to Cabaye and he hit an unstoppable effort into the top corner from outside the box that looked a goal from the moment it left his right boot.

The home side looked bewildered and such was our dominance that it only looked like a question of how many we could score against a side that were in total disarray.

However, our delivery from corners and free-kicks wasn't as good as it should have been and Cabaye wasn't able to emulate his strike against Reading after referee Mike Dean awarded a free-kick in a similar position.

N'Zogbia was booked and then tripped Mathieu Debuchy minutes later and as half time approached Gouffran hit a shot narrowly wide as Dean blew for the end of a half that we didn't really want to end.

Paul Lambert introduced Gabby Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann at the start of the second half and immediately they had an impact when Agbonlahor tumbled in the box after outpacing Debuchy.

Christian Benteke sent Krul the wrong way and suddenly Villa, who had looked dead and buried, were given a lifeline with over 40 minutes remaining.

Our possession and forward play became less and less as we retreated further and further back into our own half and the home side suddenly started to dominate, without creating many clear opportunities.

Krul made a couple of outstanding saves and there were some desperate clearances from Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor as attempts to clear our lines got ever more frantic.

James Perch was surprisingly replaced by Shola Ameobi and Vurnon Anita came on and did well for the tiring Gouffran but we had lost our shape and our passing was wayward.

But Villa's long balls into the box didn't cause as many problems as they should have done and although Benteke often won his headers, our defence was able to clear the knock-downs.

Time stood still as wave after wave of Villa attacks came in the last 20 minutes and when Sissoko left the field in the 79th minute our midfield was visibly weakened.

A flick of the boot by Gutierrez on the line and then a vital tackle by Yanga-Mbiwa kept our goal intact as captain Coloccini and his men threw themselves in the way of everything.

Debuchy and Cabaye were nursing knocks and strains and it seemed unlikely that we would manage to hold out, especially when five minutes of added time were indicated.

But somehow, some way, Krul and his ten-man defence withstood all that the home side could throw at them and an ecstatic away following saluted the final whistle with an incredible mixture of joy and relief, as the torture was finally brought to an end.

To banish the memories of that relegation nightmare on this ground in May 2009 and at the same time drop Villa deeper into their mire is a fabulous way to halt the awful run of results that had put us in relegation trouble.

The new arrivals certainly gave the side a boost tonight but perhaps it was the decision of our captain to stay and fight, that was the difference between delight and despair, as he inspired his side to success.

Although Chelsea and Spurs are next up, this win should provide the springboard required to make sure we pull away from the bottom three.

That key element, momentum, needs to start gathering pace on the back of this vital victory.

Full match report to follow.

Team: Krul, Debuchy, Steven Taylor, Coloccini, Santon, Perch (Sh.Ameobi 69), Cabaye, Gouffran (Anita 74), Sissoko (Yanga-Mbiwa 79), Gutierrez, Cisse.
Subs n/u: Harper, Williamson, Bigirimana, Sa.Ameobi.

Booked: Gutierrez, Sh.Ameobi.

Goals: Cisse 19, Cabaye 31.

Aston Villa: Guzan, Clark, Vlaar, Baker, Lowton, Westwood, Bannan, N'Zogbia, Bennett (Weimann 46), Benteke, Bent (Agbonlahor 46).
Subs n/u: Given, Ireland, Holman, Bowery, Lichaj.

Booked: Baler, Lowton, N'Zogbia, Benteke, Agbonlahor.

Goal: Benteke 49pen.

"Crowd": 30,334. Frankly shocking. England's second city appears to have deserted their biggest team, especially in their hour of need. Nothing new there though.

Referee: Mike Dean - rapidly becoming the most animated top tier official. Such was his delight at allowing us the advantage for our first goal, he appeared to be celebrating Cisse's strike along with the rest of us.

His award of the Villa penalty was also a thing to behold - his straight arm, sweeping point, while on an arcing run was 70s disco at its very worst.

It was Dean's third NUFC appointment of the current season, following the 0-1 home defeat by West Ham and 3-4 Boxing Day reverse at Old Trafford.

 

N'Zogbia is mint. His attitude is terrible, but man he can play. I remember when we played Wigan and he scored 2 unbelievable goals against us at SJP in a 2-2 draw. We couldn't bloody stop him!

Think he always steps it up against us for some reason... Maybe because we kept playing him at LB

 

Liked him from the first game I saw him play, but as you say, he's got a terrible attitude problem.

 

Maybe we should put in a sneaky bid for his ability when Villa go down

The attitude they can keep, they deserve each other!

 

Yes, they go hand in hand.

 

Pleased to get the first away win but it was edgy at the end.

 

Yes, you could say it was a bit nail bighting, just added to the thrills and excitement of the game though.

 

I went through que a bit of bog roll in the last 10 mins of the game.

 

Are we talking Tash levels of spoiled tissue..?

 

Wow, I was at that game. My first introduction to Perch in a Toon shirt

What a shocker he had! Yes, Zog played really well but Perchy was literally wetting himself every time Zog got the ball. Embarrassing. Still, at least Perchy has improved since those displays.

 

What's your next game going to be Obi?

 

Depends on whether Pards picks me or not.

 

So we wont be seeing you anytime soon then.