Pardew on Newcastle United draw: ‘We absolutely dominated, but couldn’t find the moment’

'We know we need to threaten with goals' said Newcastle manager Alan Pardew after their goalless draw with Aston Villa on Saturday, but, he added, 'There were a lot of good signs again'.

Aston Villa's Charles N'Zogbia, behind, challenges Newcastle United's Remy Cabella, front, during their 0-0 draw in the English Premier League on Saturday. Darren Staples / Reuters / August 23, 2014

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew felt his team should have got more than a point after Saturday’s Premier League goalless draw at Aston Villa.

The game was one of few real chances, with Newcastle midfielder Remy Cabella sending one wide when he might have done better and Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan denying Daryl Janmaat and debutant Siem de Jong, and Pardew felt his side did enough to win.

“Yeah, I think so,” said the manager, who saw Mike Williamson sent off in the dying seconds having collected two yellow cards in quick succession.

He continued on BT Sport 1: “I thought we had really good control of the game – particularly in the second half. We absolutely dominated, but couldn’t find the moment.

“When you get a lot of new offensive players, they’re so keen to do well. You could almost see Remy (Cabella) trying too hard to force the moment. You can’t really do that in football – you have to let the moment come to you.

“I’m pleased with the team. I think there’s a good solid base to it. We know we need to threaten with goals and that will win us games. There were a lot of good signs again, but we haven’t scored yet and that will be hanging on us.”

On whether he planned much transfer activity before the window closes on September 1, he commented: “We’ve got our finger on the pulse, as we’ve shown all summer.

“Whether we can get another body in or even two before the window shuts, I don’t know, but I think there will be some movement – maybe one or two going out as well. We’ll see.”

Pardew’s opposite number Paul Lambert, whose side moved on to four points following last weekend’s 1-0 win at Stoke, disagreed with the Newcastle manager’s assessment.

“I thought first half we were excellent,” he said on BT Sport 1. “We had some great chances. I thought we shaded the first half. Newastle had a chance towards the end.

“That’s a game last year we would have lost. Two clean sheets from two games, four points from two games is a terrific start from us.”

Lambert reserved particular praise for man of the match Alan Hutton, saying of the Scotland full-back: “He’s been excellent. Even when he was out of the side, he was never one bit of a problem – he was always professional. He’s getting the rewards and I thought his general game today was outstanding.”

Hutton urged his team to build on their positive start to the campaign.

“It’s sky high at the moment,” he said of the confidence in the Villa dressing room. “A lot of people wrote us off at the start of the season, but we’ve put in some good performances and hopefully we can build on that.

“I think it’s a fair result. It’s good to get the point and another clean sheet on the board

“They’re a good team, with good forward-thinking players, but we stood up and were strong and it’s a good clean sheet.”

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