A Villa 3 – 0 Newcastle

April 12, 2023 admin

A masterful Ollie Watkins performance helped Aston Villa end Newcastle’s five-game winning run with a deserved 3-0 win that enhanced their hopes of a European spot.

Watkins was a thorn in Newcastle’s side throughout and set the tone by hitting the post inside 28 seconds, in a game where previously free-flowing Newcastle stuttered and stumbled at Villa Park, as the hosts moved six points off fourth.

The visitors never got to grips with the movement of the 27-year-old, in front of the watching Gareth Southgate, and his superb header on the stretch teed up Jacob Ramsey to fire in an emphatic opener after 10 minutes.

Newcastle were fortunate to go in at half-time only a goal behind after Ramsey also rattled the crossbar, but were two behind shortly after the hour mark when Watkins spun in the area to fire past Nick Pope, moments after he had been denied by a narrow VAR offside call.

That decision may have denied him a hat-trick in the end, as the England hopeful added his second of the day in the last 10 minutes by finishing off Emi Buendia’s low cross.

Villa’s fifth league win in a row guarantees them sixth position this weekend, while Newcastle’s top-four hopes took a blow with both Man Utd and Tottenham now capable of leapfrogging them later in by Monday evening.

How Villa brought Newcastle back to earth with a bang

With the hosts’ four-match winning run only one behind their visitors’ five-game perfect streakm this could have been a cagey affair but Watkins’ early exploits showed there would be little of the sort at Villa Park, as he held off Fabian Schar and fired against the base of the post inside 30 seconds.

Far from a natural target man, the Villa forward held his own as his team-mates looked to find him at every opportunity, and turned provider with a superb leap to keep Buendia’s cross in play and tee up Ramsey to power home a deserved opening goal.

It could soon have been two when the rebound from another Watkins shot fell for Ramsey again, but with Pope beaten he smacked the bar from no more than eight yards.

Newcastle never laid a glove on their hosts and ended the half with an xG of just 0.17 amassed from a number of long-range efforts, none of which pulled any kind of save out of Emiliano Martinez.

Villa’s only frustration came from their profligacy and the likely second-half Newcastle resurgence did begin to materialise once Callum Wilson was brought on to play alongside Alexander Isak, but it was soon punctured.

Watkins raced onto a ball in behind before getting the better of Pope with another smart finish, only for a VAR review to rule him offside of Sven Botman by a matter of millimetres.

He offered the perfect response to find the back of the net only moments later, swivelling on the ball from Moreno’s low cross and firing into the bottom corner, with a goal that would give Eddie Howe defensive nightmares.

Things were little better for him as Watkins was given the freedom of Villa Park to add a late third, latching onto Buendia’s delivery at the back post and firing back across goal into the far corner.

Villa’s victory, and the manner of it, was richly deserved, while a strangely off-colour Newcastle performance puts their Champions League qualification hopes in doubt.

What’s next?

Next up for Aston Villa is a trip to face Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday April 22; kick-off 3pm.

Meanwhile, Newcastle face a huge test of their Champions League qualification credentials when they host top-four rivals Tottenham on Sunday April 23, live on Sky Sports from 1pm; kick-off 2pm.