Aaron Tshibola’s 88th-minute header saw Roberto Di Matteo’s men hold the Magpies to a 1-1 draw at Villa Park on Saturday night.
Former Queens Park Rangers manager and now Sky Sports pundit Ian Holloway believes Aston Villa’s comeback to earn a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United could prove a turning point in their season.
Holloway was speaking to Sky Sports following Saturday night’s televised match at Villa Park after seeing Aaron Tshibola head home an 88th-minute equaliser from Jordan Ayew’s corner to salvage a point for the hosts.
Newcastle completely dominated the first-half proceedings and took a deserved lead in the 28th minute when Villa skipper Tommy Elphick turned DeAndre Yedlin’s low cross into his own net.
Dwight Gayle and Mohamed Diame later missed chances to make it 2-0 either side of half-time, but Villa battled back into the match during the final half-hour and thought they had levelled in the 68th-minute when Mile Jedinak nodded in an Ayew free-kick, only for the goal to be ruled offside.
Ayew then hit the woodwork soon after following a mazy run from the left, before substitute Tshibola met the Ghanaian’s corner at the far post two minutes from stoppage-time to earn Roberto Di Matteo’s men a share of the spoils.
Villa still sit 17th in the Championship with just nine points after recording one win in their opening nine matches, but Holloway believes the way they fought back against the high-flying Magpies was a more truthful sign of their quality.
“I think it’s massive in the context of their season,” Holloway told Sky Sports. “I felt you could see the crowd actually start to go with the team and the delight they got with the equaliser. Let’s be honest, they’ve had a goal disallowed, had an own goal that came off their defender and they hit the post, so it hasn’t really been going for them, but I think they’ll grab some real togetherness from that.
“The team were celebrating at the end with Tshibola and that was a nice little thing. You just need that unity to get together and get that energy going again, and I felt that was starting to happen.”
Villa’s fightback was seemingly inspired by the changes Di Matteo made following the first half, having brought Tshibola on for Nathan Baker at the break and switched formation from a 3-4-3 system to a more familiar 4-3-3 setup.
The Italian also replaced Albert Adomah with Rudy Gestede shortly after the hour mark in order to give his side more of an attacking edge, and Holloway was hugely encouraged by the way they performed from that point forward.
“I think the change at half-time was needed and necessary,” the ex-Crystal Palace boss added to Sky Sports. “The way they tried to play from the start, I felt the team wasn’t ready to do that – it’s a very complicated system. Second half, they had to do better and they did. That’s just the Championship. You need to take your chances and Newcastle didn’t.
“It was coming at that time and I’m surprised in the end that if any team were going to go on and win it, Villa were. I did say it was very difficult to play at home when you’ve got that expectation but hopefully it’ll get easier and easier.
I really like Robby and know him very well, but you can’t try to do too much. You’ve got wonderful quality players but just try and get them in a system that works, then their talent will show.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
