Newcastle United tactical analysis: Major talking points and key moments from Aston Villa loss

Key moments - goals, VAR, misses & more

MISS - Callum Wilson (3)

YELLOW - Callum Wilson (41)

⚽ GOAL - Danny Ings (45+3) - 1-0

HT - Aston Villa 1 Newcastle United 0

SUB - Sean Longstaff ON, Isaac Hayden (injured) OFF (46)

YELLOW - Jacob Murphy (57)

VAR CHECK - penalty awarded, handball Lascelles (60)

⚽ GOAL - Penalty scored, Anwar El Ghazi (62) - 2-0

VAR CHECK - Penalty overruled, Martinez foul on Wilson. Wilson offside (75)

SUB - Joelinton ON, Federico Fernandez OFF (78)

YELLOW - Fabian Schar (84)

SUB - Ryan Fraser ON, Joe Willock OFF (90)

FT - Aston Villa 2 Newcastle United 0

Tale of the first half

Two England fringe strikers, two chances, one miss, one goal. In a tight encounter, where Callum Wilson failed, Danny Ings made no mistake.

The second half story

VAR. One decision for United, one against. Jamaal Lascelles' handball was given as a penalty, and one given at the other end was chalked off for offside. Little went the Magpies' way in the second 45.

Team selection - did Steve Bruce get it right?

Three changes, one of them enforced, saw Lascelles, Fabian Schar and Joe Willock come into the starting XI.

Out went Emil Krafth, Ciaran Clark and Jonjo Shelvey, with the latter the only change forced on Bruce due to a calf problem.

Federico Fernandez switched from the centre of the back three to the left with Schar on the right and Lascelles in the centre.

Willock took up his usual spot as one of the No.8s in the side, to the right of Isaac Hayden who moved to the central pivot.

Defensively, despite conceding two goals, United more solid than against West Ham - but was the midfield call correct?

United were more of a coherent, fluent midfield unit in the second 45 with Sean Longstaff on the pitch, than Hayden. The latter showing a willingness to speed up the tempo in the middle and bring those around him into play.

Tactical analysis - what went wrong? And what went right, if anything?

Villa from the off looked to exploit the gap between Jacob Murphy and those around him on the right.

Willock's lack of cover, and scarce doubling up, allowed Ashley Young and Anwar El Ghazi the run of the left. Although Schar did provide a much more robust barrier than Krafth the week previous.

United played quite direct, looking for Wilson early, with the frontman's physicality causing Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa issues. But when booked for being a little too rough, after two warnings, Wilson's powers waned. He was also left to rue an uncharacteristic miss in the opening minutes.

For all the difficulty caused down the Villa left, it was from the right the goal came. A long throw, flicked by Mings and an unmarked Ings acrobatically fired home.

In the second half, Sean Longstaff's emergence saw a passer back in the pivot. And this worked, even as United fell further behind. His range and want to take the ball in difficult situations created spaces for those around him, with the midfield unit looking a whole lot more dynamic for his presence.

However, the penalty call, which looked absolutely spot on to be honest, left the Magpies with a mountain to climb, which became even bigger when another 'clear as day' penalty given for a foul on Wilson was overruled by VAR. Correctly, mind, although close.

Chasing things, United went to what looked very much like a 4-3-3 - from their original 5-3-2 - with Joelinton coming on up top. It, obviously, did little to change the course of this one with United failing to register a meaningful effort on Emi Martinez’s goal.

Lessons learned for Steve Bruce?

*Get Allan Saint-Maximin on the ball more often - he was far too quiet and had little significant impact on the game.

*Swap Sean Longstaff in for Isaac Hayden.

*Consider working on cover down the right, with Jacob Murphy struggling.

*Service to Callum Wilson needs to improve.

Star ratings

⭐⭐⭐ - Sean Longstaff

⭐⭐ - Callum Wilson

⭐ - Fabian Schar