- Newcastle held to a goalless draw by 10-man Aston Villa in Isak’s absence.
- Villa’s Konsa sent off in the 66th minute, but Newcastle failed to capitalise.
- Magpies lacked clinical edge as transfer speculation around Isak continues.
Newcastle United will rue missed chances after they failed to break down a resilient 10-man Aston Villa side in a goalless Premier League encounter at Villa Park on Saturday.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the Magpies were without talismanic striker Alexander Isak, whose ongoing transfer situation kept him out of the match-day squad. His absence was clearly felt as Newcastle struggled to convert dominance into goals, especially in a first half where they registered 1.16 expected goals (xG) without reward.
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The game’s major turning point came in the 66th minute when Villa defender Ezri Konsa was shown a straight red card for dragging down Anthony Gordon, who had sprinted through on goal. Despite the numerical advantage, Newcastle couldn’t find a breakthrough.
Anthony Gordon, who was deployed in a central role in Isak’s absence, and winger Anthony Elanga both had chances but were denied by Villa’s new shot-stopper, Marco Bizot. The visitors found themselves increasingly frustrated as Unai Emery’s side regrouped defensively after the sending-off.
Following Konsa’s exit, Boubacar Kamara dropped into central defence to help solidify Villa’s backline, which held firm under pressure and limited Newcastle to half-chances for the remainder of the contest.
Up next for Newcastle is a high-profile clash against Liverpool the club to which Isak has been strongly linked to in recent weeks.
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