Newcastle 3-0 Aston Villa (Gordon 2′, Isak 59′, Joelinton 90’+1 | Duran red card 32′)
ST JAMES’ PARK — Suddenly it feels as if Eddie Howe has cracked the code.
After the introspection of early December – when Newcastle United‘s season threatened to topple into mid-table obscurity – they are ending the month with major momentum.
This defeat of Aston Villa was a fourth straight victory and the most impressive of the lot, arriving against a fellow Champions League contender that they comprehensively unpicked with a mixture of energy and invention.
It was a spiky contest at times with a 20-man half-time melee involving players and backroom staff summing up what was at stake.
There were three red cards, Jhon Duran’s for scraping a boot down Fabian Schar’s back followed by Jason Tindall and Villa analyst Victor Manas being sent off at half-time, and no shortage of spite but Newcastle had the quality.
Who would want to play Newcastle in this sort of form? While the table remains compressed enough not to get carried away by rising to fifth in the Premier League, this run has real substance behind it.
2024 has been a confounding, contradictory year for the Newcastle project but is ending with a reminder of just how good their manager is.
There is no mystery to how Newcastle have turned the corner in the 19 days since shipping four at Brentford.
They have shifted through the gears since Howe settled on a system that pairs Bruno Guimaraes, newly deployed as a roaming No 8, and Sandro Tonali, now their conductor at No 6.
They were irresistible here on Boxing Day, instrumental in the first two goals with Tonali providing the sort of control that Newcastle have yearned for all year.
It was his intervention that paved the way for Anthony Gordon to set the tone inside two minutes, nicking the ball from the feet of Boubacar Kamara just inside his own half to feed the roaming Joelinton – another hitting form.
Gordon still had plenty to do to beat Emi Martinez but after cutting inside his strike was crisp enough to fly past a despairing left palm.
Guimaraes has been transformed by the midfield reclalibration. He could always pick a line-breaking pass but suddenly the fizz has returned to his press – the skipper’s attitude summed up as he harried Youri Tielemans in the third minute of injury time.
It was his fine pass that started the move to led to Alexander Isak’s goal, which arrived just as Villa were threatening to get back on top.
Newcastle CUT THROUGH Aston Villa ♨️
A simple tap-in for Alexander Isak to double the hosts' lead!#PLonPrime #NEWAVL pic.twitter.com/rXhoNHZAEK
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 26, 2024
Aston Villa complaints centred on Duran’s red card, which both managers felt was harsh. But it was foolish and hardly felt like a major injustice.
Emery cut a frustrated figure but his team were largely architects of their own downfall, giving the ball away far too much to construct a platform to get back into the game.
Typically the third, killer, goal from Joelinton came from a mistake – even if the Brazilian did brilliantly to curl it past Martinez.
Emery fumes at Duran red card
Eddie Howe defended his assistant manager Jason Tindall after he was at the centre of a 20-man melee during Newcastle’s fiesty 3-0 win over 10-man Aston Villa, insisting his staff and players were “standing up for what is right” during heated half-time scenes.
Both clubs may face Football Association sanctions after tempers flared in the tunnel at half-time, with Villa analyst Victor Manas and Tindall both given red cards for their part in the fracas.
It was typical of a fractious encounter in which Jhon Duran was also sent off in the first half for rolling his studs down Fabian Schar’s back. Unai Emery raged at that decision, confirming Villa’s intention to appeal what he felt was a “harsh” dismissal.
Jhon Duran has been SENT OFF and Aston Villa are down to 10 men at St James' Park!
Did he deserve a red card here?#PLonPrime #NEWAVL pic.twitter.com/LWQIBwMO88
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 26, 2024
The Spaniard had earlier fumed at Tindall following the red card, who responded by “shushing” the Villa manager on the touchline before things boiled over in the tunnel.
Howe refused to be drawn on what exactly sparked the tunnel but said “frustration spilling over from the first half” caused it.
“There was probably 17 or 18 people trying to calm it down, but what it looks like then are more people are involved,” Howe said.
“No one wants to see that, it’s not at all how I want my players or staff to be, but sometimes you have to stand up to what you think is right and protect each other.
“I don’t know the players’ side of it too much, I was right at the top so I didn’t see what happened behind me. But of course we’re all standing up for ourselves in that moment, protecting ourselves.”
A frustrated Emery felt the game turned on Duran’s red card, which he disagreed with.
“We will appeal of course,” he said during an animated post-match press conference.
“Three matches ban for that, it is harsh. You can watch the movie [replay]. His foot was not clear. It was soft.
“[Duran] has a reputation. It was not one action with intention to kick him. For me, not a red card. Completely not. I think he didn’;’t kick him voluntarily, on purpose. It is a high punishment for this action.”
