Kieran Trippier has delivered his verdict on Newcastle United’s humbling defeat to Aston Villa.
Newcastle United’s red-hot winning streak came crashing to an end on Saturday evening as they were hammered 4-1 by Aston Villa.
The tone was set with just 35 seconds on the clock when Ollie Watkins found space in the box and saw his effort deflected in off Fabian Schar.
Jason Tindall’s side weathered the early storm and wrestled back into the game when Schar made amends by heading in Harvey Barnes’ excellent cross to the back post.
Villa continued to be the better side but the scores remained level until past the hour when Ian Maatsen blasted past a helpless Nick Pope.
Unai Emery’s well-timed substitutes then ensured Villa raced out of sight as Jacob Ramsey teed up a Dan Burn own-goal and Amadou Onana scorched one into the top corner.
It’s a stinging defeat for Newcastle and Kieran Trippier says there are no excuses.
Kieran Trippier says Aston Villa defeat a ‘reality check’ for Newcastle
Speaking to Sky Sports, Trippier said: “They scored straight away but a good reaction from us in the first half. Full credit to Villa, they are a top side with a top manager. They played very well and are a strong team.
“You go into every game to win. Today we were confident but Villa played very well and they deserved their victory.
“We can’t use that as an excuse. The manager picks the eleven, we’ve been unchanged and that’s it. We focus on the next game and that’s against Ipswich.
“We want to qualify for the Champions League. Today was a setback but we’ve got a full week to recover and analyse where we went through today.
“You come into games like this against teams like this and it’s a bit of a reality check maybe.”
Newcastle fans will love Trippier’s honesty
The party can’t last forever and Newcastle were going to have to lose a game again at some point. Doing so to an extremely talented Aston Villa is no great shame.
Trippier has fronted up to the defeat and honestly admitted they were outplayed by a better side on the day.
That’s football. It happens. Fans will love that frank, no-nonsense approach rather than blaming tiredness or any other external factor.
It will be interesting to see if Tindall – should Eddie Howe not be back in the dug-out – now makes changes to the starting XI after such a heavy loss.
Trippier looked leggy in a difficult game, as he was run ragged by Villa’s attacking might, and the veteran defender might need to be rested.
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