Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle: Williamson Unfairly Sent Off

Mike Dean given no choice after a ridiculous first yellow card.

Despite having the best of the second half at Villa Park, Newcastle were forced to endure a nervy stoppage time period after Mike Williamson was sent off for two yellow card offences. Referee Mike Dean had already been card happy - though most of his decisions were spot on - when he booked the big centre-half for apparently tripping Darren Bent. Replays showed that Williamson and Bent had accidentally come together - despite the theatrical reaction of Bent - but the reaction of the crowd, and of the prone striker proved enough to earn a yellow. That decision proved more unfair minutes later when Williamson legitimately earned himself a yellow for a professional foul on Fabian Delph and was sent off. That was a slight blemish on what was otherwise a good performance by Dean - which is more than can be said for Aston Villa's second half display, which was toothless, wasteful and uninspiring, as they seemed intent on absorbing all pressure and looking for odd breaks. Hardly the type of tactics a home crowd - which was oddly sparse for a first home game of the season - should be happy with. Newcastle had the lion's share of possession and a handful of chances, somewhat making amends for their performance against City lacking a shot on target last week, but again they were wasteful in front of goal. Too often they relied on long balls in the first half, and left themselves open to counter attacks that almost gifted Villa an unlikely goal. When the teams came out for the second half, Newcastle seemed to have woken up, as Villa left most of their fight in the dressing room, but still chances were all too few as Remy Cabella passed in and out of the game. Jack Colback again looked the best player in the middle, and Emmanuel Riviere was strong in his hold-up play but too weak when shooting. That he is used as a lone striker looks baffling considering his style. All in all it was encouraging for Newcastle, while Villa will be very happy with a point. Both sides will struggle to score on this performance, and despite making 9 signings, Alan Pardew really needs to get a proven striker in to turn possession into goals.
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