The Ghanaian forward provided the assist for Aaron Tshibola’s late equaliser as Roberto Di Matteo’s men draw 1-1 with the Magpies at Villa Park on Saturday night.
Former Newcastle United manager Steve McClaren was full of praise for Aston Villa forward Jordan Ayew on Saturday night after seeing the Ghana international help his side fight back to secure a 1-1 draw against the Magpies.
McClaren was speaking on Sky Sports following the match at Villa Park, having watched Aaron Tshibola’s 88th-minute header from an Ayew corner cancel out Tommy Elphick’s first-half own goal to earn the hosts a share of the points.
Newcastle had been by far the better side over the opening 45 minutes and through the early stages of the second half, but a handful of tactical shifts by Villa boss Roberto Di Matteo saw the claret and blues gradually improve over the final half-hour to the point where they looked the likelier to win the match.
After a subdued first-half performance, Ayew was one of the game’s standout players during the closing stages and nearly equalised with 18 minutes left when he hit the post with a curling shot after Mile Jedinak had seen a goal disallowed for offside shortly before.
He eventually helped complete Villa’s comeback two minutes before stoppage-time, sending in the corner for Tshibola’s late leveller, and almost set up a last-gasp winner for Jonathan Kodjia, only for the Ivory Coast striker to come just short of putting away his cross.
McClaren was already fully aware of the 26-year-old attacker’s talents after seeing him score against his Newcastle side last season in another 1-1 draw and was not surprised that he ultimately proved key to Villa’s second-half resurgence.
“We played them last season and he did exactly the same,” McClaren told Sky Sports. “He came inside and riffled one into the top corner from 30 yards out. That’s the difference between winning and losing, and he certainly gave them a spark on that left-hand side.
“I think this Aston Villa team, if they can get a big result and a good result, can go on a fantastic run. They’ve got the players and they’ve got the squad, but they’ve got to find the system and keep it simple because they have got the players.”
The changes Di Matteo made following the first half saw him bring Aaron Tshibola on for Nathan Baker at the break and switch formation from a 3-4-3 system to a more familiar 4-3-3 setup, before later replacing Albert Adomah with Rudy Gestede 15 minutes later.
They were moves which ultimately paved the way for the likes of Ayew to burst into life over the final 30 minutes, leaving McClaren wondering why the Villa manager did not simply go with the same tactics from the start.
“That’s the problem with us managers, we think outside of the box and try to complicate things and I think that’s what happened in the first half,” the ex-England boss added to Sky Sports. “It’s a good system but they’re not quite ready for it. They simplified it at half-time, made one change, went 4-3-3 and got in the faces of Newcastle.
“Once Mohamed Diame missed a chance to go 2-0 up, they just started to come back into it and then after the disallowed goal from Mile Jedinak they got a little more belief. By the end, they could have very easily won the game.”
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