Danny Ings’ exemplary aerial kick was a goal worthy of winning any game, but Aston Villa’s victory was secured by two VAR decisions against Newcastle United.

The former Southampton striker, signed for a quarterback for the £ 100million Villa received for Jack Grealish, continued his penalty kick in last week’s 3-2 loss at Watford by throwing himself into the air at the end of the first half to decorate his home debut in a memorable way.

Newcastle have now lost both of their opening matches, but only after referee David Coote decided to award a handball to Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles for Anwar El-Ghazi to score a penalty at the 62nd minute.

Then VAR said Callum Wilson was offside when he was knocked out by Emiliano Martínez 15 minutes from time and Coote awarded a penalty. It seemed tough in the extreme, even though Villa was good value for their victory.

Indeed, Steve Bruce has suggested it undermines the new Premier League tenure put in place to favor forwards on marginal offside calls. The Newcastle manager said: “The big decisions have gone against us. With the offside decision I didn’t think we were [meant to be] looking at the lines for longer underarms.

He also thought “nobody on the pitch thought it was handball” when Mings’ head hit his captain’s arm for Villa’s penalty. “Lascelles’ foot is over his head so if your foot is over your head you have to put your hands up,” said the former Villa manager.

“We have never seen [controversial VAR calls] Last week. i thought we were [meant to be] err on the side of the aggressor and [Wilson is] offside, what, a big toe? So I’m really frustrated with that and with handball.

Lascelles had a scorching afternoon. The Newcastle captain, back from a foot injury, was not under much pressure when he sliced ​​the ball for a throw-in as the half-time whistle approached.

Matt Cash threw the ball into the area where Mings, Grealish’s successor as Villa captain, climbed over Lascelles to give a header to the center of the goal-mouth. There, Ings had time to pull himself together before delivering the perfect aerial kick to the left of Freddie Woodman.

Still, Newcastle had started off fairly well, with Wilson inexplicably missing out on a great opportunity in the fifth minute. Fleeing from Mings’ back, the striker was neat on goal but missed his shot with his foot.

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But with Douglas Luiz back just 14 days after helping Brazil win Olympic gold in Tokyo and calmly protecting the final four, giving John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey freedom in 4-3-3, Villa looked more more secure.

On the other hand, Newcastle, in a formation which was always more behind five than three, fell. The loss of Isaac Hayden at halftime after injury only exacerbated their slowing down and Lascelles ‘return to forget was made worse when VAR decided he could have avoided dealing with Mings’ header at the 58th minute.

Newcastle’s need for a bit of luck was highlighted with 15 minutes remaining when Wilson, running over Jacob Murphy’s ball into the channel, was knocked out by a reckless challenge from Martínez, who was cautioned. However, the VAR decided Wilson was offside. The reruns shown on the big screen only fueled Wilson’s understandable frustration: There was no obvious advantage for the forward here.

Dean Smith applauded Ings’s scoring expertise. “We saw him score a 20-yard goal against us last year, so we certainly know the kind of goals he can score,” said the Villa manager.

“But it was a great finish and one that will already be on the season’s goals list even if it is only his second game. It was what we needed.