Aston Villa Shine Against Newcastle in Thrilling Victory

Aston Villa delivered an exhilarating display at Villa Park, convincingly defeating Newcastle United to boost their prospects in the hunt for the top five and Champions League qualification. Ollie Watkins matched Gabriel Agbonlahor as Villa’s joint-top Premier League scorer at 74, when his shot veered off Fabian Schar for a goal, just 33 seconds into the game.

Newcastle fought back to equalize in the 18th minute, with Schar expertly redirecting Harvey Barnes’ well-placed cross past Villa’s keeper Emiliano Martinez. However, Villa regained the upper hand in the 64th minute when Watkins assisted full-back Ian Maatsen, who elegantly chipped the ball over the approaching goalkeeper, bringing Villa ahead again. The home team’s dominance continued in the 73rd minute as Jacob Ramsey passed across the goal, resulting in the ball bouncing off Newcastle’s Dan Burn for another tally. Shortly after, substitute Amadou Onana scored an impressive fourth, sending a powerful shot into the top corner from outside the box.

This decisive victory propels Villa to sixth place in the standings, tying them in points with fifth-placed Nottingham Forest. Meanwhile, Newcastle clings to third but now sits only two points ahead of Villa with just five matches left in the season.