Newcastle United’s 3,500 day wait and the Unai Emery multiverse - moments missed from Aston Villa clash

Eddie Howe’s side were undone by a brilliant Aston Villa performance, one they had very few answers for on a day where nothing seemed to go right for Newcastle. Here, we take a look at some moments you may have missed from Saturday’s game at Villa Park.

Early in-game struggles

Newcastle were given an early warning by Villa when Watkins hit the post just seconds into the game. Watkins out-muscled Botman with ease but could only find the post with his left-footed effort.

It was a lucky escape for the Magpies, but it certainly wasn’t the first time Newcastle have had a slow start to the game. Just last week, Brentford went close early on whilst West Ham hit the post inside the first minute at the London Stadium a few days prior.

In those games, a slow start didn’t cost Newcastle - but they can ill afford to keep doing it. It likely wouldn’t have mattered at Villa Park as they were simply outclassed by their opponents on the day, but with huge games on the horizon, they simply must begin games better.

Unai Emery’s mirror images

In a parallel universe not too far from our reality, Unai Emery stepped foot in the opposing dugout at Villa Park on Saturday. The Magpies were very hot on the Spaniard ahead of appointing Howe, but saw their advances rejected by the former Arsenal man.

And when Villa Park burst into song to support their manager, Emery returned the favour by rallying the crowd for one final push, one that just a few minutes later resulted in Watkins grabbing his second goal. Villa were very good on the day and seemed to out-Newcastle Newcastle at times.

They ran harder, used the ball better and punished mistakes, something Magpies fans have been accustomed to seeing their side do to teams week after week. Villa’s showing on Saturday gave fans a sneak peek into the Newcastle United multiverse had a different decision been made in November 2021.

Newcastle United’s decade long struggles

Aston Villa’s shutout on Saturday means no Newcastle United player has scored at Villa Park in over 3,500 days. Saturday marked exactly 3,500 days since Yoan Gouffran’s late strike against the Villains on September 14, 2013.

Newcastle emerged 2-1 victors that day as Gouffran sealed the points following Hatem Ben Arfa’s first-half strike. Since then, the Magpies had back-to-back goalless draws, a 1-1 draw in the Championship with their goal courtesy of a Tommy Elphick own-goal before suffering three 2-0 defeats in a row under Steve Bruce’s management.

If the Premier League fixture computer doesn’t spit out a trip to Villa Park in the opening few weeks of the 2023/24 season, then United will go over a decade without one of their players netting away at Villa. Newcastle have had their fair share of bad days at Villa Park, relegations and ‘Sob on the Tyne’ banners spring to mind, and whilst Saturday won’t rank amongst them in the annals of history, it was a hugely disappointing afternoon nonetheless.