15 August 2023 , 21:54
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Aston Villa captain John McGinn has insisted his team need to make sure their 5-1 loss at Newcastle proves to be "a blip", after Sir Alex Ferguson praised Villa's performance in spite of the score.
Unai Emery's men fell behind early at St James' Park, only for Moussa Diaby to equalise on his Premier League debut. Parity didn't last long, though, with Alexander Isak bagging a brace to send Newcastle top and Villa bottom after the first round of fixtures.
Ferguson, a multiple Premier League winning manager with Manchester United, praised Villa's "fantastic football" despite their heavy defeat. The Scot's compatriot McGinn was understandably frustrated by the result, but has backed his team-mates to bounce back after a rare setback under Emery.
Villa lost 4-0 at Newcastle in October 2022, the final game before Emery's appointment. After that, they picked up an impressive 49 points from 25 games under the Spaniard to climb from 16th up to seventh in the table.
“Since the manager’s come in, it’s been pretty plain sailing,” McGinn told club media. “We’ve had a couple of bumps and bruises, this will hurt a little bit more because of the scoreline. Newcastle do this to a lot of teams here.
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“We’ve got to make sure that, with 37 games to go this season, we don’t let this drop our heads. We had a really good pre-season and we can’t forget all the work that we’ve put in because we’ve put in a lot of work to be successful this season. We need to make sure this is a blip – it’s so important we do that.”
Last time Villa lost to Newcastle, they responded with successive victories against Manchester United and Brighton. Their upcoming fixtures are easier than those on paper, with Everton visiting Villa Park next time out before Emery's men travel to Burnley.
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Alexander Isak scored twice as Newcastle put Aston Villa to the sword (Getty Images)Speaking on NBC Sports during the opening weekend, former Man Utd boss Ferguson admitted he felt Villa were hard done by at St James' Park. "To be honest with you, I watched Aston Villa and I can't believe the scoreline," he said when asked who had impressed him the most in Saturday's games.
"Honestly, Aston Villa played fantastic football and just lost to bad goals," he added. "Newcastle are going to be very difficult to beat, in their own ground in particular, and their manager has done a great job there.
"It's a surprising game, football. You can play teams off the pitch and not score - that's what Aston Villa did."
While Villa have a chance to immediately make amends in front of their own fans, Newcastle's next challenge is a tough one. They will face reigning champions Manchester City on Saturday, with Pep Guardiola's side having cruised to a 3-0 win at Burnley in their own opener.