Aston Villa 3 Newcastle 0 - Report

Jacob Ramsey fired home the opener before Ollie Watkins continued his brilliant form with a brace as Villa made it five straight wins in the Premier League for the first time since 1998.

Emi Martinez saved twice from Alexander Isak as he kept a fourth consecutive home clean sheet and Newcastle suffered just their fourth league defeat of the season.

Unai Emery’s Villa remain sixth in the table but are now just six points behind the third-placed Magpies and on this form, nothing can be ruled out.

Analysis

This was their seventh win eight matches and they have taken 38 points from 18 matches since Emery’s arrival.

The fact is Villa have been performing like a Champions League contender for the last five months and on the only question, with seven matches remaining, may be whether there is sufficient time for them to catch those above.

You certainly wouldn’t bet against them right now. In Watkins, they have a player in the form of his life, who has now equalled his best tally for a Premier League season after netting 14 goals.

In Tyrone Mings, they have another man whose game is reaching new heights. The performance of both typified the complete team display from Villa against opponents who arrived on a run of five straight wins.

The final scoreline flattered Eddie Howe’s men, who were not given a moment to get going by a Villa team who also hit the bar, post and had a goal ruled out by VAR.

With Leon Bailey the latest player to be missing through injury, Emery opted against a like-for-like change and instead handed Leander Dendoncker a first Premier League start since his first match in charge in midfield.

That meant a shuffle in the middle which saw Ramsey moved from the right wing to the left and it was from that position the youngster laid on a great chance for Watkins with a pinpoint through ball inside the opening 30 seconds.

Villa would not have wanted anyone else on the end of it but after holding off the challenge of Sven Botman, Watkins could only steer his finish onto the post.

The striker did not let the miss faze him and after Newcastle’s in-form hitman Isak had brought a sharp save from Martinez, he duly set up Ramsey for the opener.

Neat build-up play brought the ball to McGinn on the right and Watkins, rising to meet his cross at the far post, sent a deft backward header into the path of Ramsey, who drilled home left-footed.

Villa Park was a cauldron of noise and the hosts eager to add to their advantage.

Watkins and Ramsey were again in the thick of it. The former forced Nick Pope into a smart save with his legs, before the latter sent a shot clattering off the bar from Alex Moreno’s pull-back seconds later.

It was one-way traffic, with Pope breathing a sigh of relief after a deflected Watkins shot looped over his head and wide of the far post. A short corner routine then sent the ball flashing across the visiting goalmouth with no home player able to get the decisive touch.

The only criticism of the Villa at the break was they were still only one-goal ahead. Watkins looked to rectify that soon after the restart but after cutting in from the left, he sent his shot too close to Pope allowing the keeper to save with his legs. Almost immediately at the other end, Jacob Murphy fired Newcastle’s best chance of the match to that point wide.

Howe introduced Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron off the bench in a bid to cause the hosts some problems and briefly it worked. After Isak had brought a save from Martinez, Almiron then sent an effort into the side netting.

But Villa still looked more threatening. Watkins thought he had doubled the lead when he squeezed a shot under Pope, only to see the effort chalked off for a marginal VAR offside call.

Just three minutes later, he got one which did count. McGinn found Moreno and Watkins, after controlling the low cross, moved fractionally away from Burn to make the room to turn and fire low into the corner.

Newcastle kept pushing as best they could but were thwarted at every turn, Mings summing up Villa’s defensive effort when he flung himself in the way of Almiron’s shot.

With seven minutes to go, Watkins killed off any hope of a comeback with his second of the match and 11th in 12 matches when he stroked home Buendia’s cross.

Key Moments

11 GOAL Villa’s strong start is rewarded with the opener, Jacob Ramsey slamming home Ollie Watkins’ head down.

61 VAR Watkins thinks he has doubled Villa’s lead but the goal is chalked off for a marginal offside call.

64 GOAL Watkins now does have the second, making space to turn and fire home after receiving Alex Moreno’s low cross.

83 GOAL Watkins seals it for Villa, firing home from Emi Buendia’s pull back.

Teams

Villa (4-4-2): Martinez, Young, Konsa, Mings, Moreno, McGinn, Luiz, Dendoncker, Ramsey (Chambers 85), Buendia, Watkins (Duran 90+1) Subs not used: Carlos, Traore, Digne, Revan, Patterson, Sinisalo (gk), Olsen (gk).

Newcastle (4-3-3): Pope, Trippier, Botman, Schar, Burn (Targett 68), Murphy (Wilson 56), Guimaraes, Willock (Longstaff 68), Gordon (Almiron 56), Isak, Joelinton (Anderson 80) Subs not used: Lascelles, Ritchie, Manquillo, Dubravka.