English FA Premiership/ Aston Villa 2 Newcastle Utd 0: The Aston Villa takeover may have cost Randy Lerner some £70 million and Newcastle United's new signing and debutant Obafemi Martins £10 million, but this match proved that not everything in the Premiership is excessively priced. Villa won their second match in five days to go second in the table and continue their unbeaten start to the season under Martin O'Neill courtesy of two very cheap first-half goals from Luke Moore and Juan Pablo Angel.
Defensive flimsiness has been Newcastle's historical failing and after Stephen Carr's error allowed Lee McCulloch to score for Wigan on the opening day, yesterday it was the turn of Titus Bramble and Celestine Babayaro to offer up the bargains. There is no sight of the character flaw disappearing.
Against Wigan, Newcastle had been redeemed by Shola Ameobi's winner, but he is injured and here the grim news for Glenn Roeder was that Martins joined Ameobi in that category. After 61 unproductive minutes the Nigerian jumped for a routine pass from the substitute Nicky Butt and landed heavily on his left leg. Liam Ridgewell jumped with Martins but there was no significant contact.
Martins lay crumpled on the turf and play went on for a few seconds, but it gradually became apparent that the former Inter Milan forward was in trouble, and having been attended to by Newcastle's physio and doctor, he was carried down the tunnel on a stretcher. However, Roeder expects him to be fit for next Saturday week's game against Fulham.
Babayaro has not won many friends on Tyneside with his efforts and he was at fault for Villa's second. He did not come out after the interval. Bramble, too, had another unconvincing afternoon and it is easy to understand why Newcastle are persevering in their attempt to prise Robert Huth out of Stamford Bridge.
O'Neill has been at Villa for 24 days and the last eight have brought seven points. Gareth Barry's new four-year contract brought a surge of noise at kick-off and it was only three more minutes before there was another. Following a scuffed Bramble clearance, Moore bundled through a Scott Parker challenge and drilled a low shot beyond Shay Given. For the next half-hour Newcastle owned the ball as Villa played like an away team, but with Roeder referring to "pretty patterns", Thomas Sorensen did not make a save until the 45th minute.
By then, Angel had rounded Given to make it 2-0 after the most straightforward of passes from Gabriel Agbonlahor between the dozing Bramble and Babayaro. After Martins had gone off - the lamentable Albert Luque strolled about up front on his own - the second half was a non-event until Moore hit the crossbar in injury-time.
- Guardian Service
