Newcastle settles for Villa draw
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NEWCASTLE United is still waiting for its first goal of the new Premier League season after being forced to settle for a dour 0-0 draw at Aston Villa yesterday.
Magpies boss Alan Pardew tried to perk up his shot-shy attack with a series of preseason signings, but his new boys have yet to find their form.
They wasted several chances in a 0-2 defeat against champion Manchester City last weekend and created little threat in a tame encounter at rain-lashed Villa Park in Birmingham.
The most notable moment didn’t come until stoppage-time when Newcastle defender Mike Williamson was sent off for a second booking, but it was too late for the equally lackluster Villa to take advantage.
After ending last season amid a chorus of boos from disgruntled fans, Pardew and his players desperately needed to get their first win of the campaign.
Instead they had to be grateful for their first point, even if it was achieved in the most forgettable fashion.
Villa didn’t manage a shot on target, but it struggled badly last season, so its unbeaten start at least maintains the signs of improvement for Paul Lambert’s team, which won 1-0 at Stoke City in its opener and has yet to concede a goal.
Watched from the stands by England manager Roy Hodgson, it was Villa which threatened first when Charles N’Zobgia could only head a decent chance on to the roof of the net.
Newcastle forward Remy Cabella wasted a good opportunity in the 25th minute, shooting wide while off-balance after the ball deflected his way in the Villa area from a cross.
The deadlock was closer to being broken shortly after the interval when Williamson nodded back across the area to the diving Daryl Janmaat, whose header was parried over by Brad Guzan.
Both sides sent on new signings for their debuts, Villa’s Carlos Sanchez replacing N’Zogbia and Newcastle’s Siem De Jong being introduced for Vurnon Anita.
De Jong almost made a dream start when the Holland midfielder’s close-range shot drew a fine stop from Guzan. The Magpies were then reduced to 10 men when Williamson earned his second booking in the space of just a few minutes following a challenge on Fabian Delph.
Yesterday’s other matches see title contender Chelsea at home to newly-promoted Leicester City while FA Cup-holder Arsenal travels to Everton.
Managerless Crystal Palace faces London rival West Ham United while Southampton plays West Bromwich Albion.
Swansea City, fresh from its shock opening day win at Manchester United, welcome Premier League newcomer Burnley to south Wales.
Louis van Gaal will go in search of his first competitive win as United manager when he takes the team to Sunderland today, while former Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp will return to White Hart Lane as manager of fellow London club Queens Park Rangers.
Today’s other Premier League fixtures sees Hull City, 1-0 winner over QPR last weekend, at home to Stoke.
The second round of league fixtures is completed by tomorrow’s clash between Manchester City and Liverpool, last season’s runner-up, at Eastlands.
Text message
Meanwhile, former Cardiff City boss Malky Mackay allegedly called the club’s Malaysian owner Vincent Tan a “chink” in a text message, the Daily Mail newspaper reported yesterday.
Mackay has been embroiled in controversy over claims that he and right-hand man Iain Moody swapped racist, sexist and homophobic SMS messages when they worked at the club.
The Mail published yesterday what it said was a fresh batch of offensive messages, including one from June last year when Mackay, then Cardiff’s manager, contacted Moody as head of recruitment about a player they wanted to sign.
“Not taking no for an answer from the chink until the 20th time or unless somebody big blows us out of the water. Can you tell him that,” the message allegedly said.
The newspaper added that Tan controlled Cardiff’s finances at the time and that the club’s investigators believe that the text message referred to the owner.
Before yesterday’s report emerged, the 42-year-old Scotsman apologized for what he said was three “unacceptable” text messages on Sky Sports News on Friday.
But he added: “I am not racist, I am not sexist, I am no homophobe and I am not anti-Semitic.”
Mackay guided Cardiff back to the Premier League after over half a century out of the top flight but was sacked by Tan in December 2013.
Moody was fired two months later. He resigned as sporting director of Premier League side Crystal Palace on Thursday after Cardiff sent a file alleging misconduct during his time there to the Football Association. The controversy over the texts was stoked when trade union the League Managers’ Association said on Thursday that Mackay was simply “letting off steam to a friend during some friendly text message banter”.
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