MAAT’S the way to do it.
When you have been on the wrong end of Champions League heartbreak, this is how to bounce back and boost your chances of having another go next year.
And to dent the challenge of one of your top-five rivals into the bargain.
Just when Newcastle were threatening to frustrate Unai Emery’s vibrant team, Ian Maatsen had his own moment of redemption.
The Dutchman had been at fault when Fabian Schar cancelled out Ollie Watkins’ first-minute opener, but just past the hour he finished off a brilliant move that typified the hosts.
Villa had fallen agonisingly short of forcing Paris Saint-Germain to extra time in their quarter-final, despite having plenty of chances.
But less than four days later, in front of a rapturous home crowd, they capitalised on their dominance and put Newcastle to the sword.
Substitutes Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana made sure the scoreline reflected Villa’s superiority.
Ramsey’s first major contribution was to force Dan Burn to put the ball in his own net and then Onana smashed home a wonderful fourth.
It was a classic one-two combination to settle a brilliant and sometimes bruising brawl between two sides who are now Premier League heavyweights.
They had gone toe-to-toe in an end-to-end first half.
But Villa, who also hit the woodwork three times, were always the ones doing the most damage.
It was a day when something had to give, with Villa on a four-game winning streak in the league, one behind Newcastle’s five.
There was also an element of needle.
The teams had threatened to take Boxing Day literally when they met at St James Park in December
Wind-up merchant Jason Tindall and Villa analyst Victor Manas squared up and sparked a 10-man festive fracas that ended with both being sent off.
Villa noted in their report on the game that Tindall later reappeared to celebrate Newcastle’s 3-0 victory while wearing a Wham! Last Christmas hoodie.
With that context, it was never going to be a case of wake me up before you go-go for the return at Villa Park.
Although some of the Newcastle team did seem to be asleep when Watkins scored after only 33 seconds.
The England star had initially chased down Sandro Tonali, whose clearance was weak and the ball broke to Youri Tielemans.
As the Belgian passed, Tonali was playing Watkins onside. The striker cut inside and his shot took a heavy deflection off Fabian Schar that left Nick Pope with no chance.
The Newcastle goalkeeper was equally helpless minutes later when Watkins strode through the away defence and smacked a shot off the crossbar.
There were already some tasty tackles flying in, and Villa fans will feel Schar should not have been on the pitch to equalise.
Was the Swiss defender’s cynical foul on Watkins a denial of a goalscoring opportunity? Referee Jarred Gillett clearly thought the Villa man would not have reached the ball and showed Schar a yellow card, with VAR Michael Salisbury seeing no reason to intervene.
Everyone of a claret and blue persuasion was soon even more annoyed by Gillett.
The Australian decided Boubacar Kamara’s challenge on Tino Livramento was worthy of a free kick.
It wasn’t, but the home side should have defended it better. Instead, they only half-cleared it and when Harvey Barnes swung in a deep cross, Ian Maatsen allowed Schar to steal in and head the ball through Emi Martinez.
Maatsen almost enjoyed immediate redemption but from his fine cross, Marco Asensio mistimed his finish horribly.
In a parallel universe, Watkins soon completed his “hat-trick”. But in this world, he hit the woodwork again, this time with a header from an Asensio free kick.
At the other end, Martinez scrambled away a long-range effort by Tonali before Pope kept out a Morgan Rogers effort and Tielemans’ goalbound corner.
Watkins dragged a shot wide, then claimed a penalty in vain after going down under a challenge from – guess who? – Schar.
It was entertaining, compelling stuff, and so it continued.
The excellent Morgan Rogers played in John McGinn and Pope had to intervene. After Tonali cleared a Tielemans header that was probably going wide, Rogers found space only for Schar to block his shot.
Bruno Guimaraes somehow escaped a yellow card for a late, spiteful foul on McGinn
The Villa captain almost had revenge, but his shot from Kamara’s through ball was straight at Pope.
Alexander Isak was having a very quiet game by his very high standards, which reflected his team’s limited ambition. His first proper effort on goal, after more than half an hour, was comfortably held by Martinez.
And then came the move of the match and one of the most important goals of Villa’s season.
The ball moved swiftly from Martinez to Rogers to Asensio to Watkins, who rolled it into Maatsen’s path.
The Dutchman did not break stride before lashing the ball past Pope.
Maatsen had never scored in the Premier League before and he will do well to notch a better one.
Tindall made changes, but it was Emery’s that decided the match.
After another fine move, Ramsey reached the byline and Burn could only divert the ball into the net as he tried to deny Tielemans.
Villa smelled blood, and when Rogers laid the ball back to Onana on the edge of the area, there was only one place it was going.
On this form, Villa will be back in the Champions League before they know it.
Read the full article here
