Magpies earned a 0-0 draw at Villa Park
Emery satisfied with a point against Newcastle
Ezri Konsa saw a straight red
Unai Emery was disappointed at dropping points at home in Aston Villa's first game of a Premier League season, but said their draw with Newcastle United was "more or less fair."
Emery watched on as his team played out a goalless draw with Newcastle at Villa Park, with the hosts seeing Ezri Konsa sent off for a last-man foul in the 66th minute.
But they were able to hold on for a point, but the Villans were far from their best in an error-strewn first-half that went unpunished by Eddie Howe's side.
Indeed, Villa generated an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.13 from their three attempts compared to Newcastle's 1.47 from their 16 shots, while also without Alexander Isak.
Villa failed to have a single shot in the first half of a Premier League game for the first time since March 2022, ending a 123-game run of doing so in the opening half in the league.
Konsa's sending of also saw the Villans recieve a red card in each of their last two top-flight games, doing so in consectutive matches in the competition for the first time since December 2024.
And while Villa extended their unbeaten home run to 19 matches in the Premier League (W11 D8), Emery was left wanting more from his team, but acknowledged the difficulty of playing with a man less.
"I am not happy with one point at home. But against a team like Newcastle, they made a lot of good chances in the first half," Emery told BBC Match of the Day.
"Second half we dominated more, created chances. But the red card changed the match completely. The players responded fantastically, the point more or less is fair.
"It was a tough match. After the red card there was more necessity to defend, but we responded to all the issues on the field."
Emery did highlight some positives from the performance, though, most notably for debutant goalkeeper Marco Bizot, who joined from Brest earlier this summer.
Bizot was handed his Premier League debut in place of Emiliano Martinez, who was suspended after his red card on the final day of the 2024-25 campaign.
The Dutchman made three saves throughout the match, most notably against Anthony Elanga, standing strong to repell his effort away with just three minutes on the clock.
And with Martinez's future at Villa Park still in doubt, Emery was happy with Bizot's performance and clean sheet on his debut.
Emery added: "Fantastic, he did very good work for his confidence and his team mates."
