Ghana forward Jordan Ayew rescued Aston Villa with a stunning equaliser in his side’s 1-1 draw at Newcastle on Saturday, but the Premier League strugglers remain deep in trouble.
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It was Villa who were the most defensive, though, and that allowed Newcastle to build up pressure until an Aleksandar Mitrovic header won a corner, which Fabricio Coloccini converted after slack defending.
“Jordan Ayew’s goal was brilliant”.
Newcastle looked to maintain their recent upturn in form – with two wins from two – and Villa looked doomed, rooted to the bottom of the spot with six points from 20 matches, which as a win ratio, was second to everyone.
It just Villa’s fourth Barclays Premier League point since the opening day of the season, in the process denying their hosts a third successive win.
Villa, who have been relegated from the top flight on the last two occasions they were bottom at Christmas, are 10 points off safety, but Ayew hopes an improved showing can provide the catalyst for an upturn in fortunes.
Having delivered a rallying call to his players earlier in the week, claiming that it was time to start making ground on those above them, Garde was understandably frustrated by the start his team made to the game, saying that he though they “didn’t play well at all in the first 45 minutes”.
“The attitude was really different from the first half”.
Garde also felt the introduction of Rudy Gestede gave Villa added impetus.
“The first half we were out of the game in terms of intensity, we were losing all the duels, and if you don’t win the ball you can’t win the game”.
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“We have to battle for that and when we are in a situation where we have nothing to lose, we start to play and that was the case”. We’re beginning a run which will be very important to us.
