Vital to watch these two inexplicable moments that did for Newcastle United at Aston Villa | OneFootball

Newcastle United lost to Aston Villa on Saturday.

The final score showing as Aston Villa 4 Newcastle 1.

For all that the home side were undoubtedly the better team on the day, it was two inexplicable moments that were responsible for this loss.

Step forward Sandro Tonali.

Watch the Aston Villa 4 Newcastle 1 highlights below.

It was inexplicable what Sandro Tonali did.

Vying with Alexander Isak as this season’s player of the year, in superb form recently, United’s best, somehow Tonali doing the most un-Tonali thing ever.

In the opening seconds of the game, Sandro Tonali finding himself with the ball deep in the right-back position, he did the worst possible inexplicable thing. The midfielder had a simple ball along the deck to play to Trippier up the line, or he could have launched it further up the right hand side into their half, he could have simply knocked it out of play, indeed anything but what he actually did do.

Sandro Tonali inexplicably played a lazy thoughtless ball, chipping it into an area around 15 yards outside the penalty area, more into the middle of the pitch. Maybe he was expecting Sandro Tonali to be there…as it was exactly the area he would usually be patrolling to snuff out any danger. Instead, it was played straight to the feet of Tielemans, one pass and a couple of seconds later it was an easy pass to Watkins in the danger area and the Tonali mistake severely punished in the cruellest of ways. Watkins’ weak shot was bothering nobody but it took the most wicked of deflections and gave Pope no chance.

A manager (or assistant manager…) can only do so much ahead of a match, he/they can’t legislate for their most reliable of players doing something so out of character, so early in the match. Maybe that is exactly how it happened, Sandro Tonali not the first player ever to get caught cold so early in a match.

The second and equally (even more?) crucial inexplicable moment, came 63 minutes later.

Jacob Murphy may not have the inherent quality of Sandro Tonali BUT he has been similarly reliable this season, especially recently.

As well as his outstanding goals and assists stats, the one thing you can always rely on with Jacob Murphy, is his excellent discipline in tracking back minute after minute, match after match.

That is, apart from the 64th minute at Villa Park.

Just watch again the Villa match highlights below, go to 1.45 on these highlights and it is totally inexplicable, the absolutely reliable Jacob Murphy is for some bizarre reason only watching and only focused on looking at the play unfolding in the middle of the pitch.

As the ball is played out to Villa’s left (Newcastle United’s right AND Murphy’s side!), belatedly Murphy glances in that direction, far too late he sees that the ball has been played out to Watkins with Maatsen (Murphy’s man) overlapping.

The damage is already done, Trippier left two on one and Watkins’ perfect pass sends in the overlapping Maatsen, who executes a great finish but once again no luck for United, as Pope had spread himself well but the ball just clears his head.

The ironic thing was that as this goal to make it 2-1 unfolded, Anthony Gordon was waiting for a break in play to replace…Jacob Murphy.

No doubt some of you will be saying Villa went on to score another two goals, that Villa had other chances and so on. All of that is true, but the fact remains, these two opportunities for the first two key Villa goals were gifted by Newcastle and two of United’s most reliable players were so severely punished, for mistakes that in the vast majority of instances wouldn’t have ended up punished by goals.

Such if football.

My intention with this isn’t to demonise Sandro Tonali and Jacob Murphy, quite the opposite really.

It is just simply to point out that they are only human, countless mistakes are made by numerous players in every match, however, some end up more costly than others. Two bad mistakes but they also happened on a day when then luck deserted United in both instances.

Newcastle battered Crystal Palace even more than Villa did to us on Saturday, yet I look back at that Palace match and you never know how mistakes and goals can alter the outcome of any game. Eze totally out-psyched by Nick Pope when a converted penalty would have made it 1-1, then United 1 minute and 38 seconds made it instead 2-0 when Barnes’ cross took a cruel deflection off Guehi for the Palace captain’s second NUFC goal of the season!

I have absolute confidence that both Sandro Tonali and Jacob Murphy, along with their teammates, will be very much back to 100% focus next Saturday. I have a string feeling it could prove a very long 90+ minutes for Ipswich Town when they come to St James’ Park.

Aston Villa 4 Newcastle 1 – Saturday 19 April 2025 5.30pm

Schar 18

Villa

Watkins 1 Maatsen 64, Burn OG 73, Onana 75

Possession was Newcastle 51% Villa 49%

Total shots were Newcastle 10 Villa 23

Shots on target were Newcastle 3 Villa 9

Corners were Newcastle 7 Villa 7

Touches in the box Newcastle 36 Villa 31

Newcastle team v Aston Villa:

Pope, Trippier (Krafth 76), Schar (Targett 82), Burn, Livramento, Joelinton, Tonali, Bruno, Barnes (Willock 76), Isak (Wilson 76), Murphy (Gordon 65)

Dubravka, Osula, Miley, Longstaff