10-man Magpies steal draw against Villa

Aston Villa 0 Newcastle United 0

10-man Newcastle weathered a storm for 81 minutes to secure a goalless draw at Villa Park but the result did little for either side’s Champions League ambitions.

Andy O’Brien was sent off for a clumsy challenge on Darius Vassell as he bore down on goal inside 10 minutes and from that point on the visitors were always on the back foot.

The closest Villa came to scoring was in first-half injury-time when Vassell had the ball in the net only the effort to be rather harshly disallowed for a foul on Aaron Hughes.

A win would have put either side into the coveted fourth place in the Premiership but the draw only extended Newcastle’s abysmal run of 11 away matches without a win.

Former Newcastle midfielder Nolberto Solano was recalled to face his old club after a four-match absence with a hamstring injury and he replaced Gavin McCann (ankle).

England midfielder Kieron Dyer returned for Newcastle after a hamstring injury while Andy O’Brien replaced Titus Bramble (thigh) in central defence.

Villa’s first threatened in the fourth minute when Laurent Robert gave the ball away inside the home side’s half and Thomas Hitzlsperger burst forward 30 yards before Dyer brought him down.

The midfielder picked himself up but bent the 25-yard free-kick over Shay Given’s crossbar.

Five minutes later Villa Park roared into life when Vassell out-paced O’Brien to reach Hitzlsperger’s long ball only to be brought down by a clumsy challenge on the edge of the penalty area.

Referee Barry Knight had no hesitation in brandishing the red card to the defender but from the resulting free-kick Solano curled his shot over.

Newcastle hit back in the 15th minute when Thomas Sorensen could only fumble Laurent Robert’s 30-yard piledriver of a free-kick but his defence cleared the danger.

All the momentum continued to be with the home side and beanpole striker Peter Crouch headed over from Hitzlsperger’s inswinging 23rd-minute corner.

Crouch’s lay-off from Vassell’s cross was then blasted over from inside the penalty area by Lee Hendrie as Villa struggled to test Given.

Newcastle manager Bobby Robson made a double substitution in the 35th minute, bringing on Lee Bowyer and Hugo Viana for Jermaine Jenas and Robert.

But it was Villa who threatened again before half-time when Ronny Johnsen headed over Solano’s free-kick.

Bowyer broke from halfway, released Craig Bellamy who set up Alan Shearer only for the former England man to blast over.

Vassell had the ball in the net in injury time but the effort was harshly disallowed for a foul on Aaron Hughes.

Newcastle’s chances of escaping with something from the game were not helped when Bellamy pulled up with a hamstring injury as he tried to outsprint Johnsen six minutes after the re-start.

He was replaced by Michael Bridges as Robson continued with his positive approach, which had seen Dyer operate at right-back since O’Brien’s sending-off.

Bridges had an immediate impact when his cross forced Ulises De La Cruz to concede a corner but the visitors could not take advantage.

Marcus Allback was introduced up front in place of Crouch in the 62nd minute as Villa boss David O’Leary tried to find a way of unlocking a resolute Newcastle rearguard.

The visitors were happy to put all but Shearer behind the ball but when Hendrie crossed from the left in the 67th minute, Allback should have done better than to head into Given’s arms.

It encouraged Villa’s defenders to push forward and De La Cruz was just wide with a 25-yard shot moments later.

Shearer was booked in the 72nd minute for hacking at Mellberg as he chased a ball into the corner before Gary Speed and Hendrie were then given a stern talking-to for an altercation in the centre circle.

The Wales midfielder was lucky to escape with a yellow card seconds later as he lashed out with a forearm and caught Hendrie in the face.

The majority of the 40,786 crowd thought Hendrie had found the winner with six minutes to go but his shot from Hitzlsperger’s left-wing corner rippled the side-netting with Given beaten.