Newcastle 2 - 1 Aston Villa: Debut to remember for Demba

Papiss Demba Cisse announced his arrival in English football with a stunning debut goal as Newcastle edged past Aston Villa.

The 26-year-old Senegal striker thumped a 71st-minute volley past former Magpies keeper Shay Given to win a pulsating Barclays Premier League encounter.

Cisse, an early replacement for the injured Leon Best, saw international team-mate Demba Ba fire the home side into a 30th-minute lead but, after Darren Bent had twice been denied by keeper Tim Krul, Robbie Keane levelled deep into first-half stoppage time.

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However, Alan Pardew’s men improved after the break and, to the delight of a crowd of 48,569, managed to see out time to bank another three points.

The first goal had come against the run of play, when Richard Dunne got up well to head Danny Guthrie’s cross away from Ba, but when Ryan Taylor smashed the ball back across goal, the former West Ham frontman thumped it past Given to claim his 16th goal of the season.

But the visitors levelled in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Keane met N’Zogbia’s cross unopposed in front of goal to volley home.

Villa boss Alex McLeish replaced Stephen Ireland with Barry Bannan at the break, but saw his side almost concede the lead for a second time within two minutes of the restart.

Given, who played with such distinction for Newcastle over 11 and a half years, uncharacteristically fumbled after Guthrie had crossed, but neither Ba nor Cisse were able to take advantage.

However, Newcastle regained their lead in style with 19 minutes remaining. Jonas Gutierrez’s left-wing cross was too high for Ba, but it fell nicely for Cisse to control with his chest before dispatching a left-foot volley high to Given’s right.

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