On Saturday, Sven Botman and Newcastle United missed out on valuable points in the battle for third place in the Premier League.
On Saturday, Sven Botman and Newcastle United missed out on valuable points in the battle for third place in the Premier League. They lost their away match against Aston Villa, the team in form in England, 3-0 in Birmingham. Erik ten Hag can take advantage of The Magpies' loss a day later with Manchester United.
The home team, coached by former Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain manager Unai Emery since the dismissal of Steven Gerrard, is on a steady rise in the English league. The team remained unbeaten in the last seven matches prior to the encounter with Newcastle, winning six of them.
The spectators at Villa Park had barely sat down when the home team almost took the lead. In the first minute, striker Ollie Watkins ran out of Botman's blind spot, only to hit the far post face to face with Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. After ten minutes, however, Jacob Ramsey scored flawlessly with a beautiful assist from Watkins' head: 1-0. Despite several opportunities for a second goal by Ramsey and Watkins, the halftime score remained the same.
In the second half, Watkins in particular was actively seeking a goal. Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope saved his first attempt, but after an hour, he was finally beaten by the striker, who was freed by the excellent Alex Moreno. However, the VAR found that he had been offside, so the celebration was put on hold. Just five minutes later, Watkins turned away from Dan Burn and poked the ball behind Pope, making it 2-0.
But that wasn't the end of it, as Watkins also scored the 3-0 in the last ten minutes. On Ramsey's assist, he shot a seemingly unstoppable and tricky shot past Pope, who saw the attempt fly beneath him. With this, Watkins, a former Brentford player, has scored eleven goals in the last twelve matches for Villa. In injury time, he was given a well-deserved standing ovation as he was substituted, having also been a seven-time English international.
With the loss to Aston Villa, manager Eddie Howe's team remains on 56 points, currently occupying third place. However, Manchester United, who also have 56 points but have played one less game, can take over that position on Sunday if they secure at least one point against relegation candidate Nottingham Forest. Aston Villa remains a solid sixth with 50 points, but has already played three more matches than seventh-placed Brighton, who are four points behind.
Updated: 07:26, 15 Apr 2023
