Aston Villa manager Dean Smith believes his side got away with one against Newcastle United yesterday.
It was a second straight defeat for the Magpies, with Danny Ings and Anwar El Ghazi netting for the hosts.
There were some positives to take from last weekend’s defeat to West Ham United, but this was a poor performance from Newcastle.
Newcastle just didn’t threaten Villa and their shaky backline, which was hugely disappointing.
The visitors had just one shot on target in the game – which came from substitute Joelinton deep in injury time.
Newcastle’s best chance fell to Callum Wilson in the first-half.
The 29-year-old went one-on-one with Emi Martinez, but pushed his effort agonisingly wide.
It was a golden opportunity in only the fifth minute that even Smith felt Villa were lucky to get away with.
He said post-match (Chronicle): “We felt they would be a threat certainly with the pace they had,” the Villa boss said. They put some balls behind us and we had to deal with that really well.
“We got away with one when Wilson went through early on. I thought there were two fouls in it, being honest, before that.”
Ings would then punish Wilson for his miss, scoring a bicycle kick before VAR awarded Villa a penalty for handball by Jamaal Lascelles.
Work to do for Newcastle
This was a worrying display against a side there to be got at.
Wilson won’t convert every single time, so it is important for others to step up.
Just one shot on target just isn’t good enough.
This week Bruce was on the radio talking about how pleased he was with the attacking side of his team.
The talent is indeed there on paper, but that doesn’t count for much if the tactics aren’t there to mobilise them.
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