Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has heaped praise on Aston Villa following their 3-0 win against the Magpies at Villa Park.
It was a shocking performance from Newcastle, who had the chance to make it six wins in a row.
However, the defeat could prove to be a massive dent in our bid to qualify for the Champions League, depending on how Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur do this weekend. The result makes Newcastle’s game against Spurs next weekend even more crucial.
Eddie Howe will be really disappointed by what his side produced on Saturday afternoon, but a lot of the credit has to go to the opponents. Unai Emery’s side have been in brilliant form, and showed why they are now contenders for Europe.
Alan Shearer praises Aston Villa for what they did to Newcastle
Towards the end of the game, Shearer took to Twitter to provide his reaction. But rather than criticise the Magpies, he focussed his attention on the performance of Aston Villa.
He wrote: “Well done Villa. Brilliant today. Not many teams have done this to Newcastle. They have battered them from start to finish and been better in every position.”
Hopefully just a blip for Newcastle
As Shearer says, Villa did something that most teams have failed to do against this Newcastle side. It was the Magpies’ fourth loss of he season, but probably the only occasion when Howe’s side have been completely played off the park.
In what has been a sensationally consistent season for Newcastle, we were massively under par on Saturday. There wasn’t much to celebrate, with the away side barely laying a glove on Villa. We had a couple of chances, but were always chasing the game.
Ollie Watkins was too hot to handle, while Villa were dominant all over the pitch.
But hopefully this is just a one off. That needs to be the case with eight games to go, as Newcastle continue to dream of Champions League qualification.
Howe needs a response from his players next week, in what could be a top four deciding clash with Spurs at St James’ Park.
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