Aston Villa 2 Newcastle 0 - Report

First half goals from Ollie Watkins and Bertrand Traore saw Dean Smith's team record their first victory in four attempts.

Watkins snapped a nine-match goal drought when he took advantage of poor defending to head home and open the scoring.

Traore then doubled the lead shortly before the break for a cushion which proved more than adequate against a poor Newcastle side.

Victory moved Villa up to eighth in the table, with games in hand over everyone above them except sixth-placed Everton.

Any analysis of the performance needs to take into account the standard of the opposition. Newcastle, now winless in 10, are arguably the poorest team in the Premier League at the moment and this result heaped more pressure on their manager, Steve Bruce.

But this result still demonstrated just how far Villa have come from the team which struggled last season.

Their ninth Premier League win of the season matches their total from the whole of last term. This was also their ninth clean sheet, though goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez will rarely have a quieter 90 minutes all season.

After the frustration of Wednesday's 2-0 defeat and the upheaval caused by the club's recent coronavirus outbreak, this result was the perfect tonic.

There was just one just one change from the Villa line-up which started on Wednesday, with Marvelous Nakamba replacing the suspended John McGinn.

Matt Targett did start as expected having come off late in the loss at the Etihad with tiredness.

The left-back was involved from the start, firing a powerful drive straight at Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow, before delivering a cross from the flank which was just out of Watkins' reach.

His next cross from the left brought the opener, Fabian Schar trying and failing to cut it out and sending the ball looping up for Watkins to head beyond Darlow for his first goal since Villa's 3-0 win at Arsenal on November 8.

Ross Barkley headed wide from a free-kick as Villa looked to increase their lead but otherwise the hosts struggled to find the final pass.

Newcastle's biggest threat was through the air. Tyrone Mings was in the right place to block a goal-bound Jamaal Lascelles header from a corner.

Veteran Andy Carroll then headed wide before Mings was again in the right place to intercept a header with Callum Wilson lurking.

Having struggled to find the final pass, Jack Grealish looked to have supplied it to set up Watkins for his second, only for the flag to go up, correctly, after the striker had sent a neat finish beyond Darlow.

Villa's second, when it did arrive three minutes before the break, proved worth the wait.

A corner was cleared as far as Nakamba, who instantly switched the ball out to Traore on the left. The winger showed great feet to evade a challenge before switching play to Grealish and racing into the box to meet the return pass with a first-time, right-footed shot which crashed in off the bar.

It was the Burkina Faso international's fourth goal in his last six Premier League matches.

Both Douglas Luiz and Nakamba sent efforts just off target as Villa ended the half hunting a third.

They began the second period on the front foot too. Barkley found Watkins, who was denied by the legs of Darlow, before Luiz put the rebound wide.

Things rather petered out after that, with Villa happy to hog possession and Newcastle unable to make any impression in attack.

That finally changed when Bruce finally made a substitution with 20 minutes to go. One of those introduced, Ryan Fraser, had a quick chance to make an impression but couldn't get a clean connection on Miguel Almiron's through ball, his shot blocked by Konsa.

Grealish saw a shot deflected over as Villa looked to hit the visitors on the counter. When the skipper was substituted late on it was the first time in 43 Premier League matches he had failed to complete 90 minutes.

Villa almost grabbed a third in stoppage time, Darlow denying substitute Trezeguet down to his right. But the points were long secure by then.

Teams

Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, Luiz, Nakamba, Traore (Trezeguet 80), Barkley (El Ghazi 80), Grealish (Ramsey 88), Watkins Subs not used: Elmohamady, Engels, Guilbert, Taylor, Davis, Heaton (gk).

Newcastle (4-3-3): Darlow, Manquillo (Fraser 70), Schar, Lascelles ©, Lewis, Hayden, Shelvey, Hendrick, Almiron (Gayle 81), Carroll (Saint-Maximin 70), Wilson Subs not used: Longstaff, Joelinton, Ritchie, Krafth, Murphy, Dubravka (gk).