Newcastle beats Aston Villa in battle of Premier League disruptors

Newcastle United moved past Aston Villa and into fifth place in a heated, ill-tempered Boxing Day clash between the two Premier League disruptors.

Villa were already struggling after Anthony Gordon gave the Magpies the lead after just 80 seconds, but the afternoon turned sour when striker Jhon Duran was shown a red card for kicking Fabian Schar.

Duran had spent most of the first half complaining to his team-mates and even argued with manager Unai Emery before stupidly deciding to take his frustration out on Schar, with both boots falling on the defender after he made a Had won the tackle.

Newcastle then dominated the game – although assistant coach Jason Tindall was also sent off for an altercation in the tunnel with a member of the Villa backroom team – and had three goals disallowed from both sides, while Alexander Isak scored his 11th in his last 12 Hit scoring appearances. They also hit the crossbar through Jacob Murphy, while Emilano Martinez made a stunning first-half save to keep out Sandro Tonali.

Joelinton finally scored a deserved third goal for Eddie Howe’s team in stoppage time. The win was Newcastle’s fourth in all competitions and puts them back in the race for European qualification.

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