Aston Villa v Newcastle LIVE: Villa deliver crushing win in battle for Champions League spots
Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle: Ollie Watkins ran the show as Villa pulled away in the second half to give their Champions League hopes a big boost
Aston Villa thumped top-five rivals Newcastle United 4-1 at Villa Park to keep themselves in the thick of the race for Champions League qualification.
Five days after being knocked out of Europe's top club competition by Paris St Germain in a thriller, Villa returned to Premier League action in emphatic fashion with Ollie Watkins opening the scoring inside the first minute.
Fabian Schar equalised for third-placed Newcastle with a header before half-time but Villa blazed clear after the break with Ian Maatsen restoring their lead before a Dan Burn own goal and substitute Amadou Onana's superb finish sealed the points.
Victory lifted Villa three points above Chelsea into sixth place with 57 points from 33 games, level with Nottingham Forest who play on Monday. Newcastle have 59 points, one more than fourth-placed Manchester City, in what is turning into a fierce battle to qualify for next season's Champions League. The top five will all qualify.
Relive Aston Villa vs Newcastle in the Premier League below
Spectacular Villa earned their win
Spectacular game, spectacular performance from Villa. They are not in the top five, Forest have a game in hand and Villa have some difficult matches.
And yet, if they play like this, they will surely end up in the Champions League spots. Which means two of Newcastle, Forest, Manchester City and Chelsea will not.
Newcastle, meanwhile, face a test to see how they can respond after their winning run ended.
Champions League race heating up
Right, so what does that do for the Champions League race? In short, brings Villa right back in. Remember the top five all qualify.
Newcastle stay 3rd on 59 points, one point ahead of 4th-placed Man City on 58. Nottingham Forest are now 5th on 57 points, while Villa are up to 6th, also on 57. Then Chelsea are 7th on 54 but have a game in hand - away to Fulham tomorrow.
This should be a spectacular fight to the finish
FULL-TIME! Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle
And that’s it from Villa Park. An absolutely superb display by Villa, especially in the second half and Ollie Watkins - who scored after just 33 seconds - ran the show.
A big boost for Unai Emery’s side in the race for the Champions League spots
Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle, 90+3 mins
Malen fancies getting in on the act but his shot across the face of goal is millimetres wide.
Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle, 90 mins
Into six minutes of injury-time now, as Villa see this one out.
Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle, 87 mins
Ramsey gets himself a yellow card for pulling back Livramento. Bit of afters between Ramsey and Guimaraes afterward but nothing too serious.
Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle, 82 mins
More subs as Matt Targett comes on for Newcastle, while Villa make a triple sub - Marcus Rashford, Ross Barkley and Donell Malen on for Watkins, Rogers and Kamara
Emery plays his cards right
What a 12 minutes or so for Aston Villa and what a double change by Unai Emery.
Jacob Ramsey came on to set up a goal, Amadou Onana to score one. Villa have been much the better team today. Now the scoreline shows that.
POST! Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle, 79 mins
It’s so close to five! For a third time today, Villa are denied by the woodwork as Ramsey curls one beyond Pope and it cannons off the post.
Newcastle have made a triple sub with Callum Wilson, Joe Willock and Emil Krafth coming on but it’s too little, too late surely?
GOAL! Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle (Amadou Onana, 75 mins)
And suddenly it’s 4-1! This is getting out of hand for Newcastle.
Rogers probably should score as he jinks inside his man and shoots from 10 yards but Pope makes a really good stop with his foot.
The ball then falls to Ramsey, he lays it back to Onana and it’s a brilliant curled effort into the top corner! Classy, classy finish
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments