Aston Villa 2 Newcastle United 0
A brilliant volley by Danny Ings and an Anwar El Ghazi penalty gave Aston Villa an easy 2-0 victory over a poor Newcastle United side in the Birmingham club’s first home game of the Premier League season on Saturday.
Newcastle striker Callum Wilson wasted a good early chance before Ings put Villa in front just before the break, throwing himself in the air and volleying home a flick-on from a long throw in first-half stoppage time.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors in the second half when defender Jamaal Lascelles was penalised after a goal-bound header from Tyrone Mings hit him on the arm, and El Ghazi confidently fired home the resulting penalty in the 62nd minute.
Newcastle thought they were back in it when Wilson was cleaned out in the box by Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez, but the referee’s decision to award a penalty was overturned after the Newcastle striker was found to have been offside when the ball was played forward.
Newcastle failed to find the spark that might have ignited a comeback, slumping to their second defeat of the season following their 4-2 opening day loss to West Ham United, leaving them second from bottom of the standings.
Ings has now scored twice in two league games for Villa since arriving from Southampton in the summer, putting the Birmingham side in eighth spot in the table.
Crystal Palace 0 Brentford 0
Crystal Palace were held to a goalless home draw by promoted Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday in a game short on quality, leaving Patrick Vieira’s side still waiting for a goal under their new manager.
New signing Conor Gallagher almost gave Palace an early lead when he smashed a shot against the bar after being played in by Wilfried Zaha in a bright start from the hosts in Vieira’s first game at Selhurst Park, having lost 3-0 at Chelsea in their opening game.
Brentford enjoyed a dream start to Premier League life with a 2-0 home win over Arsenal last week but struggled to get going on Saturday and needed 21 minutes to have a first shot, French winger Bryan Mbeumo missing the target from range.
Mbeumo then hit the woodwork later in the half with a free kick and nearly laid on a pass for the opening goal moments after the interval.
Mbuemo got down the wing and his cross found Ivan Toney but the striker could not get clean contact on his attempted header, instead striking the ball with his shoulder.
Palace striker Christian Benteke then sent a header over the bar while midfielder James McArthur let fly from outside the area and was only denied by a top class save from Brentford keeper David Raya.
