Six things you missed from 'thumping' Aston Villa win over Newcastle - including standout Emery moment

Aston Villa took a huge step towards securing Champions League qualification with a thumping 4-1 victory over fellow challengers Newcastle United on Saturday evening, courtesy of strikes from Ollie Watkins, Ian Maatsen and Amadou Onana, as well as an own goal from Dan Burn.

Villa Park was treated to a spectacle as Unai Emery’s men ran riot in the second half to humble a Newcastle side that had won their last five league matches, claiming maximum points to close to within just two of the third-placed Magpies.

Watkins took merely 37 seconds to open the scoring as the striker was fed through by Youri Tielemans, cut in and struck into the near post via a huge deflection off Fabian Schar. Watkins, buoyant after his early goal, then went agonisingly close to scoring a quickfire second in the fifth minute as he skipped past Schar and saw a powerful strike rebound back off the crossbar.

There was a big shout for a Newcastle red card as Schar dragged down Watkins as the last man but referee Jarred Gillett reached for yellow instead. It was then Schar, of all people, who levelled up the scoring for Newcastle with a header through the legs of Emiliano Martinez. Harvey Barnes recycled possession after a free-kick, crossing deep to the far post where Schar was lurking to nod into the net.

Marco Asensio had a huge chance to put Villa immediately back ahead as Maatsen drilled a cross into the area, but the Paris Saint-Germain loanee somehow missed the ball. It was an absolute sitter. Watkins then struck the woodwork again as he met Asensio’s whipped free-kick with his head but was denied by the left post.

Villa started the second half the better of the two teams and Ian Maatsen took advantage in the 64th minute, firing emphatically into the far corner to put his side 2-1 in front. Watkins did brilliantly to wait for the perfect moment to feed Maatsen, who made a great late run into the box and showed great composure to beat Pope.

Emery’s side then put some distance between themselves and the Toon when Burn put the ball in his own net in the 73rd minute. Jacob Ramsey, only just brought onto the field a few moments earlier, sprinted down the left and fired in a low cross that was converted awkwardly into the net via Burn’s heel.

It was then bedlam at Villa Park as, just two minutes later, Onana made it 4-1 with an absolute piledriver into the top left corner. Rogers saw a shot saved at point-blank range by Pope but the chance wasn’t over as Villa worked the ball to the edge of the box, where Onana was waiting to thunder into the net.

Ramsey went close to making it five as he struck the right post with a right-footed curler. Had it gone in, the scoreline still wouldn’t have flattered Villa as they were rampant in that second half.

Whether you were in attendance at Villa Park or were watching from home, there will have been a few moments or trends you may have missed from the game. Here’s a run-through of six that Birmingham World spotted from the press box.

Pope saves Schar from seeing red

Schar, the scorer of Newcastle’s equaliser, perhaps shouldn’t have been on the pitch for his goal as he had fouled Watkins as the last man just a few minutes earlier. VAR took a brief look and waved away Villa’s appeals, even though there was a strong argument for harsher punishment.

Many in claret and blue will have been scratching their heads afterwards but the key factor may have been Pope’s involvement, as the goalkeeper was already rushing out to clear the ball when the pass was played to Watkins. Schar was still the last outfield man, but Pope already being so far off his line may have been enough to argue it wasn’t necessarily a clear goalscoring opportunity.

That in itself is subjective, and there will certainly be many arguing the opposite, but the fact Gillett went for a yellow card meant VAR couldn’t really get involved as it wasn’t a clear and obvious error. The fact Schar went on to score just a few phases of play later certainly didn’t help, but of course it didn’t matter come the end of the game.

Tielemans channels his inner Douglas Luiz

Villa’s number eight, already with an assist to his name, was seemingly eager to get on the scoresheet himself as he appeared to audaciously attempt scoring directly from a corner at the end of the first half. The effort gave Pope a scare as he just about managed to parry the ball away, but unconvincingly so.

Former Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz made scoring from corners a bizarre speciality as he achieved the rare feat on three occasions. The first came against Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup during the 2022/23 season before he added two more, one against Arsenal in the Premier League and the other at Walsall in pre-season.

Mings pockets Isak

In for a surprise start ahead of the absent Pau Torres, Mings had a faultless game at left centre-back. Alexander Isak, one of the best players in the Premier League this season and last, was made to look ordinary as Mings pocketed the Swede for much of the encounter.

There weren’t any standout moments where Mings humiliated Isak but sometimes that’s the best teller of when a defender has done his job correctly, as Newcastle’s number 14 hardly had a sniff. It wasn’t only Mings responsible for dealing with the striker but he was certainly in closer proximity than his central defensive counterpart, Ezri Konsa.

The stats back up Mings’ impressive performance, too, as he won three aerial duels, made two clearances and chopped in with two interceptions. Not all were involving Isak, but many were. It was important, too, that the Newcastle talisman only registered one shot on target, and it was tame.

Super John McGinn’s versatility

Villa’s skipper was absolutely everywhere throughout his 72 minutes on the field, and so much so that his several position changes during the game may have gone unnoticed. McGinn started off the left with Asensio as the 10 and Rogers on the right but it took just 20 minutes or so for Emery to swap McGinn and Rogers around for the rest of the first half.

There was then another couple of swaps in the second period as McGinn went central and Asensio moved to the right in several instances. Emery then asked the pair to play a fluid role inside right, often occupying similar spaces to create an effective overload.

Genius Emery substitutions

Just as Newcastle were beginning to come out on top in more and more midfield duels due to Villa’s tiring legs, Emery turned to the bench to bring on Ramsey and Onana for McGinn and Asensio. A few eyebrows were raised when McGinn was taken off as he was playing so well, but it turned out to be a genius call.

Ramsey assisted Burn’s own goal within one minute of entering the field as he showed great willingness to get to the ball ahead of Kieran Trippier and drill a cross into the danger zone. Onana then made an even stronger impact two minutes later as he thumped in from 20 yards to make it 4-1.

Emery will be the first to admit he can sometimes get his substitutions wrong, but he certainly got them right today and the timing was immaculate.

Watkins levels Agbonlahor’s record

In amongst the chaos, Watkins edged closer to becoming Villa’s all-time Premier League scorer as he moved level with Gabriel Agbonlahor’s tally of 74 goals. The two woodwork hits will be all the more agonising with Watkins well aware of how close he is to achieving such a significant milestone.

The England international surpassed Dwight Yorke’s total of 60 back in September as he netted twice in the 3-2 win over Everton to become Villa’s second-highest scorer in the top flight. It’ll taste even sweeter when he finally beats Agbonlahor and, put simply, it’s now only a matter of time before he does.