Aston Villa v Newcastle United player ratings: El Ghazi 7, Ings 9; Schar 4, Wilson 6

Striker scores stunner as Villa beat Magpies 2-0 at Villa Park

ASTON VILLA RATINGS: Emiliano Martinez - 6: Barely had to break sweat until taking out Wilson in the box with 15 minutes to go – only for VAR to intervene with tight offside call. Newcastle failed to register a single shot on target at Martinez's goal. PA

Matthew Cash - 7: Excellent clearance in frantic opening 10 minutes following dangerous Willock cross. Blasted shot over bar just before half-hour mark. Long throw led to Ings’ opener. Getty

Ezri Konsa - 8: Newcastle have some dangerous attackers in the likes of Saint-Maximin and Wilson but Konsa helped keep them under control for most of the game. Reuters

Tyrone Mings - 7: England defender felt he’d been fouled by Wilson as Newcastle striker missed early sitter – and the pair enjoyed a proper physical battle throughout. Provided flick-on to set up Ings goal and his header hit Lascelles’ arm for the penalty. Getty

Ashley Young - 7: Veteran playing at left-back made feelings clear to Murphy after a first-half dive in box by Newcastle wingback. His experience will be invaluable to Villa this season. Getty

John McGinn - 7: Scot curled over from edge of box after 15 minutes with teammates better placed. Always busy and looking to make things happen. A key player for Villa. Reuters

Jacob Ramsey - 8: Young midfielder showed some flashes of real quality and looked a composed figure in middle of park. Getty

Douglas Luiz - 7: First start of the season for midfielder who curled chance horribly wide after 35 minutes and was booked for hauling down Willock. Solid return to team. Getty

Anwar El Ghazi - 7: Blazed chance well over bar in first five minutes. Sent Woodman wrong way with cool second-half penalty. PA

Emiliano Buendia - 6: Big-money summer signing from Norwich still feeling his way into the Villa team. Outshone by Villa academy player Ramsey. Booked in second half. Getty

Danny Ings - 9: Dinked first-half shot wide but offside flag had gone up anyway. Superb acrobatic finish to open scoring and provide the game’s moment of real quality. Headed chance wide in second half. Getty

SUBS: Jaden Philogene-Bidace – (On for Buendia 86’) N/A. Axel Tuanzebe – (On for Luiz 89’) N/A. Wesley – (On for Ings 90+1’) N/A. PA

NEWCASTLE RATINGS: Freddie Woodman - 5: Does not look confident with crosses, flapping at one in first half, not coming out to claim another in the second. No chance with Ings’ stunner and sent wrong way on penalty. Getty

Jacob Murphy - 5: Lucky to escape a booking for dive in first half, incurring wrath of Young, was shown yellow card for pulling back Ramsey in second. Defensively suspect.

Fabian Schar - 4: Almost handed chance to Villa with dreadful ball out from back just before break then gave Ings time and space to open scoring – albeit in spectacular fashion - minutes later. Booked for fouling Ramsey in second half. Reuters

Federico Fernandez - 7: Headed tough chance over bar in first-half injury time. A reliable figure at the heart of Newcastle's creaky defence. Getty

Jamaal Lascelles - 6: Club captain back in starting line-up but fell foul of VAR in second half when handball in box was spotted. Harsh but arm was in unnatural position. Reuters

Matt Ritchie - 6: Whipped in a few dangerous crosses from left. Leant back and sent shot flying over after being teed-up by Wilson with 25 minutes left. Reuters

Isaac Hayden - 6: Back in his favoured anchor-man role in midfield but picked up knee injury in first half and came off at break. Booked for foul on McGinn. Getty

Joe Willock - 6: Making first start since joining on permanent move but couldn’t continue his remarkable scoring run of last season. A handful at times who at least offered a bit of flair to an insipid Newcastle performance going forward. Getty

Miguel Almiron - 5: Almost found Wilson with one dangerous cross in first half but not enough attacking threat from the Paraguayan. AP

Allan Saint-Maximin - 6: Very few flashes of his trademark trickery as Villa kept the Frenchman under close watch. Getty

Callum Wilson - 6: Curled glorious chance wide when through one-on-one with keeper after five minutes. Booked just before half-time after wrestling-match with Mings. Thought he had earned Newcastle a penalty after being fouled by Martinez only for VAR to rule him offside earlier in the move. Getty

SUBS: Sean Longstaff – (On for Hayden 46') 6: No impact from midfield after coming on. Joelinton – (On for Fernandez 78') N/A. Ryan Fraser – (On for Willock 90’) N/A. Curled good chance over bar. Reuters

Danny Ings scored a stunning acrobatic goal as Aston Villa defeated Newcastle United 2-0 on Saturday.

The striker's brilliant bicycle kick that gave goalkeeper Freddie Woodman no chance was the only moment of quality at the end of a scrappy first half.

Villa doubled their lead when Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles's handball was spotted by VAR and referee David Coote was instructed to check out the incident on the pitchside monitor. Anwar El Ghazi then sent Woodman the wrong way from the spot to make it two after 62 minutes.

Newcastle thought they had earned a penalty when Emiliano Martinez took down Callum Wilson in the box but VAR ruled the Newcastle striker was marginally offside in the build-up and the decision was overturned.

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith said: “Certainly am [happy] in front of our own fans who have waited a long time to get back. An OK performance but a result is what we needed.

“We had to deal with balls in behind with their pace but a great finish from Danny Ings and a set-piece routine we worked on in pre-season. That is what we brought Ings in for. Anwar El Ghazi is a very good penalty taker.

“You just have to manage the times, we have got used to enough stoppages with short pre-seasons but we have to get on with it and manager it the best we can. Hopefully the better performances will come but it was important to get off the mark today.”

Newcastle manager Steve Bruce said: “Not going for us is it? We lost a game last week with a big talking point and today we feel aggrieved too. The same official is involved, last week we were crying out for the referee to have a look at the monitor, he didn't and today he did.

“I thought VAR was for clean and obvious. The penalty for us, there were no lines drawn last week but there were this week, why? We are still talking about VAR.”

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