Aston Villa 3-0 Newcastle: One-sided victory boosts hosts' European hopes

Ollie Watkins continued his prolific form with two goals as Aston Villa boosted their European hopes with an emphatic victory over Newcastle, whose five-match winning run came to a shuddering halt at Villa Park.

Watkins had already struck the foot of the post, forced two fine saves out of Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope and had an effort ruled out for offside by the time he gave Villa a two-goal cushion with his 10th goal in 12 league appearances.

The former Brentford striker completed a one-sided victory with eight minutes remaining, converting a low shot via a slight deflection off Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier.

Unai Emery's team dominated the early stages and took a deserved lead when Jacob Ramsey swept Watkins' cushioned header low into the net.

Watkins almost scored inside 30 seconds when he struck the foot of the post after shrugging off Sven Botman's challenge.

Ramsey struck the crossbar in a one-sided opening, before Pope kept out another Watkins effort early in the second half.

Alexander Isak had a shot parried over the bar by Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez as Newcastle improved after the restart, but Watkins gave the home side breathing space with a close-range finish before completing the scoring late on.

Villa, who have won five straight Premier League games for the first time since 1998, are now only six points off third-placed Newcastle having played one game more.

Manchester United will leapfrog Newcastle into third if they avoid defeat at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

More to follow.

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Aston Villa

Squad number1Player nameE Martínez

Squad number18Player nameYoung

Squad number4Player nameKonsa

Squad number5Player nameMings

Squad number15Player nameÁlex Moreno

Squad number32Player nameDendoncker

Squad number6Player nameDouglas Luiz

Squad number7Player nameMcGinn

Squad number10Player nameBuendía

Squad number41Player nameJ Ramsey

Squad number11Player nameWatkins

Squad number16Player nameChambers

Squad number22Player nameDurán

Newcastle United

Squad number22Player namePope

Squad number2Player nameTrippier

Squad number5Player nameSchär

Squad number4Player nameBotman

Squad number33Player nameBurn

Squad number28Player nameWillock

Squad number39Player nameBruno Guimarães

Squad number7Player nameJoelinton

Squad number23Player nameMurphy

Squad number14Player nameIsak

Squad number8Player nameGordon

Squad number9Player nameWilson

Squad number13Player nameTargett

Squad number24Player nameAlmirón

Squad number32Player nameAnderson

Squad number36Player nameS Longstaff

Line-ups

Aston Villa

Formation 4-2-3-1

1E Martínez

18Young4Konsa5Mings15Moreno Lopera

32Dendoncker6Douglas Luiz

7McGinn10Buendía41J Ramsey

11Watkins

Substitutes

Newcastle

Formation 4-3-3

22Pope

2Trippier5Schär4Botman33Burn

28Willock39Bruno Guimarães7Joelinton

23Murphy14Isak8Gordon

Substitutes

Live Text

Match ends, Aston Villa 3, Newcastle United 0.

Second Half ends, Aston Villa 3, Newcastle United 0.

Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Callum Wilson (Newcastle United).

Jhon Durán (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Foul by Jhon Durán (Aston Villa).

Sean Longstaff (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Substitution, Aston Villa. Jhon Durán replaces Ollie Watkins.

Foul by Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).

Fabian Schär (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Emiliano Buendía (Aston Villa).

Matt Targett (Newcastle United) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Offside, Newcastle United. Elliot Anderson tries a through ball, but Bruno Guimarães is caught offside.

Substitution, Aston Villa. Calum Chambers replaces Jacob Ramsey because of an injury.

Goal! Aston Villa 3, Newcastle United 0. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Jacob Ramsey.

Attempt missed. Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Emiliano Buendía.

Ashley Young (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Sean Longstaff (Newcastle United).

Attempt missed. Fabian Schär (Newcastle United) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Matt Targett with a cross following a set piece situation.

Foul by Emiliano Buendía (Aston Villa).

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