Source: Northern_Echo
Matchfacts: Newcastle Utd vs Aston Villa
Goals:[LNB] 1-0: Collins (24mins, glanced Ashley Young's free-kick into the corner after the winger had been fouled by Barton)[LNB] Bookings: Williamson (23mins, foul), Petrov (79, foul), Barton (90, dissent), Cuellar (90, foul)[LNB] Referee: Stuart Attwell (Nuneaton) Fell for Young's dramatic fall as Villa took the lead, but displayed leniency towards Steven Taylor when he clashed with Bent 3[LNB] Attendance: 37,090[LNB] Entertainment: **[LNB] ASTON VILLA (4-2-3-1): Friedel 7; Walker 5 (Cuellar 78mins), Dunne 7 , COLLINS 8, L Young 6; Makoun 4 (Reo-Coker 67mins 4), Petrov 5; Downing 6, Agbonlahor 6 (Pires 86mins), A Young 7; Bent 5.[LNB] Subs (not used): Marshall (gk), Clark, Albrighton, Heskey.[LNB] NEWCASTLE (4-1-3-2):[LNB] HARPER: Made two fine second-half saves from Agbonlahor and Young to keep Newcastle in the game 7[LNB] Simpson: Kept tabs on Agbonlahor and Young reasonably well, but couldn't get forward as he would have liked 6[LNB] Williamson: Gave as good as he got against Bent and refused to be pulled out of position by Villa's attackers 7[LNB] S Taylor: As whole-hearted as ever, but might have conceded a penalty when he barged Bent over in the second half 5[LNB] Enrique: Started brightly, but tailed off as the game wore on and didn't really deliver a telling cross 5[LNB] Coloccini: Acquitted himself well enough in central midfield, but was hardly ideally suited to the role 5[LNB] Barton: Was unlucky to be penalised in the build-up to the goal, but didn't help himself by niggling at the referee 5[LNB] Guthrie: Worked away diligently at the heart of midfield, but never looked like providing a telling through ball 5[LNB] Gutierrez: Another infuriating display in which some decent approach play was wasted by wayward crossing 4[LNB] Lovenkrands: Rarely troubled the Villa defence, but would have claimed a dramatic late equaliser had it not been for Friedel 5[LNB] Ranger: Has been banging Pardew's door down to get a game, but did little to justify his high opinion of himself 4[LNB] Subs:[LNB] R Taylor (for S Taylor, 63mins): Gave the midfield a more balanced look, but failed to find the target with a late free-kick 5[LNB] Kuqi (for Ranger, 83mins)[LNB] (not used): Krul (gk), Ferguson, Tavernier, Richardson, Donaldson.[LNB] Man Of The Match: JAMES Collins Scored the only goal of the game and successfully neutralised Ranger's attacking threat.[LNB]
