Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle match report Saturday 23rd August 2014

A Dad-dance by Toon boss Alan Pardew and a bottle thrown by Roy Keane which hit Villa manager Paul Lambert were the two outstanding moments in a frustrating goal-less draw which saw Newcastle defender Mike Williamson shown the red card.

In a match in which both teams couldn't find the target, the off-field incidents proved more interesting than the competitive fayre served to the 30,297 forsaking a Bank Holiday trip to the seaside.

Pardew embarrassingly laughed off his fancy footwork which was trending on Twitter while Lambert, who was hit in the unmentionables by his assistant's flying plastic bottle, also saw the funny side quipping, "You try and tell him not to throw a bottle."

Meanwhile, on the pitch Newcastle defender Williamson could count himself unlucky after two yellow cards which saw him leave the field with the clock ticking into time added on at the end of the game.

Despite this the visitors had the better share of the chances and should have won the game. Daryl Janmaat guilty of missing  clear cut opportunities in both halves, the first on 25 minutes when he scuffed a shot wide of the post and the second a header which Villa keeper Brad Guzan tipped over.

Villa, who started brightly came closest in the 17th minute when a clever Charles N'Zogbia free kick 25 yards out missed the right hand post by a whisker.

Newcastle dominated the second half and Williamson wasted a fine chance when he completely missed a Remy Cabella cross from the right when he should have at least hit the target. On 87 minutes, the best chance of the game fell to Toon substitute Siem De Jong who was played into the left-hand side of the box by Ayoze Perez but put his powerful right-foot shot was straight at Guzan.

With time pressing on and Williamson was booked for a foul on Villa substitute Darren Bent and four minutes later as the match ticked into time added on, the defender blatantly stopped on-rushing Villa midfielder Fabien Delph leaving referee Mike Dean with no option than to send him off.

On a positive note, the Villa defence kept its second clean sheet with impressive performances by back in favour Alan Hutton and man-of-the-match Aly Cissokho. The midfield players were full of industry but the weak link was in and around the box where the Villa strikers failed to test Toon keeper Tim Krul and it was clear Paul Lambert's side was missing injured talisman Christian Benteke. 

Nevertheless, the Scotsman praised his side’s performance saying, "I thought first half we were excellent. All we needed was that finishing touch. Last season that was a game we would have lost. Four points from six is a terrific start for us.

"I think Cissokho was outstanding. Philippe Senderos has been brilliant and Alan Hutton has been outstanding.”

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew said: "We had some great chances. Siem de Jong had a massive chance at the end. I am pleased with the team. We know we need to threaten but there were a lot of good things today. We haven't scored yet and that will be hanging on us now.”