Nobody seems to have told Aston Villa the season is winding down. At a boisterous, increasingly gleeful Villa Park Unai Emery’s side moved up to sixth in thePremier Leaguewith a relentless dismantling of Newcastle, who simply fell away in the second half, conceding three goals in the final 20 minutes of a chastening 4-1 defeat.
Newcastle remain in third and fought hard in the opening hour, after which life just seemed to catch up with them, Villa’s squad depth apparent as Emery shuffled his attacking substitutes with notable precision.
The stadium was chilly and grey at kick-off, the air hazed with the after-burn of some surprisingly aggressive pre-match smoke geysers. This was one of the most jeopardy-ridden occasions of the Premier League’s end game, a top five face-off, third versus seventh, both clubs hungry for what has now become a key stream of ready cash in the age of profitability and sustainability rules plus pumped‑up Uefa revenues.
Newcastle came here with an unchanged team and on a wrecking ball run of form, six straight wins, Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy leaving scorch marks on the flanks. In Eddie Howe’s absence Jason Tindall has offered a kind of hype-man leadership model. Bez has taken the mic, and at the best possible moment, with a team running on adrenaline.
The real rock of Howe’s Newcastle is still its murder-ball midfield, which is designed to leave you bruised and breathless, to make every moment in that shared pocket of space an ordeal. Unai Emery stiffened his team here in response. Tyrone Mings for Pau Torres was a direct beefing up. Ollie Watkins was back in the XI, Marcus Rashford on the bench.
Villa had played a suicidally high line against Newcastle in the5-1 defeat last season. Emery loves to tinker with the margins from game to game. The sense here was the home team would start a little deeper.
Or not. It took 33 seconds for Villa to take the lead with a thrust down the left. Youri Tielemans picked up Sandro Tonali’s floated clearance and played an instant pass in to Watkins. He chopped inside and saw his shot deflected into the corner. It was Watkins’ first goal here since February.
Four minutes later he hit the bar from almost the same spot after weaving unhindered through the right of the defence. But steadily Newcastle settled, Tonali grooving about in possession. There were some juddering early collisions. Dan Burn seemed to spend most of the opening 15 minutes splayed across the turf, hurling himself into assorted lunges and body-checks.
And with 17 minutes gone Newcastle were level. It came from a free-kick into the Villa box, headed clear and picked up by Barnes on the right, who crossed deep for Fabian Schär to hover and power a header into the net.
Quick! Back down the other end! Almost immediately Ian Maatsen found space on the Newcastle right and crossed for Marco Asensio to miss his kick in front of goal, a precision missed-kick, side-foot, eyes over the ball, just the faintest of sliced contacts. With 26 minutes gone Watkins hit the woodwork again, the same side, this time with a free header from a free-kick. He really should have scored.
And so it went on, a series of surges from end to end. Tonali drew a fine full length save from Emi Martínez. Nick Pope palmed away a drive from Morgan Rogers, then scrambled the resultant corner out off his knees. Half-time came at a breathless pace, the score somehow still only 1-1.
It was more of the same after the break. John McGinn, such a fine comfortable chair of a midfielder, saw more of the ball in his playmaking role.
Sign up toFootball Daily
Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football
after newsletter promotion
Villa forced a series of corners, one of which was kicked If not off the line by Tonali, then away from it on the left hand post. Tielemans was also having a fine game, counterpressing well in the clinches around the Newcastle box, something Emery has brought out of his game.
With an hour gone Pope made a good save from McGinn, rushing to edge of his box and blocking with an outstretched arm.
Villa deservedly took the lead again on 63 minutes with a fine goal, a quick break from midfield fed to Watkins who released Maatsen into space outside him. He didn’t break his stride, running on and clipping a lovely finish past Pope into the far corner. The Holte End erupted, Emery whirled and punched the air on his touchline, Zorro-like all in black.
With 20 minutes to go Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana came on, a weary looking McGinn coming off. And Villa scored almost instantly, again from the left, this time a cross from Ramsey, turned into his own goal by Burn in a tangle of feet. At which point the other sub abruptly made it four, Onana smashing a shot high into the net after Pope had saved from Rogers. It was a brilliant finish, and a supreme pair of substitutions from Emery.
Villa kept pressing. Ramsey hit a post, the game just running away from Newcastle now. This will be a match to pack away behind the happier memories of the spring. For Villa there is a tangible sense of momentum heading into the final reckoning.