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Chris Sutton points finger of blame at Aston Villa player who let down 'tremendous' Alysson
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- Chris Sutton points finger of blame at Aston Villa player who let down 'tremendous' Alysson
Chris Sutton was blown away by some "tremendous" play from Alysson in Aston Villa's win over Newcastle United.
The Villans came away from St James' Park with a 1-0 victory on Saturday evening.
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Johan Manzambi put Villa ahead in the 36th minute and Newcastle were unable to respond, despite having chances to do so.
Manzambi now has give goal involvements already for Villa - three goals and two assists - in just his sixth appearance since arriving.
The 21-year-old did what one of his teammates could not earlier in the match following some good play from Alysson.
Thankfully for Villa it did not matter, but Sutton still pointed the finger of blame.
Alysson dazzles in first-half moment vs Newcastle
Alysson lasted just 45 minutes for Newcastle before being replaced by John McGinn at half-time.
The Brazilian attacker made an impact in the first half, with his four attempted dribbles the joint-most of any player come full-time.
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That is despite only playing half the match, while he also completed 12 out of his 13 passes (92 per cent).
One of those passes was for Nicolas Jackson with nine minutes played.
Alysson took the ball past one opponent down the right and carried on charging forward, before playing in Jackson with the outside of his boot.
Jackson had a chance to run through on goal but was put under pressure by a covering Harvey Barnes and saw his shot saved by Lukas Hornicek.
Speaking on Sky Sports' live coverage of the match, Sutton said: "It's tremendous from Alysson.
"The balance, the drive and then the pass. Newcastle were exposed from their own corner.
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"Harvey Barnes gets back to put him under pressure. What a comfortable save in the end. He should do better, Jackson."
Jackson indeed should have done better, but how did he perform overall in the North-East?
Aston Villa player ratings vs Newcastle: Joao Gomes sensational, 5/10 left out to dry by Unai Emery Nicolas Jackson's game in numbers vs Newcastle
Jackson was unable to add to his tally of five goals in an Aston Villa shirt.
The Senegal international played the full 90 minutes against Newcastle and registered one shot on target - the one teed up for him by Alysson.
He generated an expected goals (xG) value of 0.36, which only Manzambi (0.44) could better among Newcastle players.
It was not to be for Jackson, but thankfully his early miss did not matter too much anyway.
