Aston Villa end St. James’ Park drought to close gap on leaders Arsenal | OneFootball

Aston Villa ended a 17-game winless run at St James’ Park with a comfortable 2–0 victory over Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.

Goals from Emiliano Buendía and Ollie Watkins either side of half-time left Newcastle still without a Premier League win in the absence of Bruno Guimarães since his debut four years ago.

Sandro Tonali looked set to give the hosts the perfect start in the opening minute as he danced through Villa’s defence, only to be denied by Emiliano Martínez, who proved far more alert than his defensive line.

The end-to-end nature of the opening period made a breakthrough inevitable, with the visitors striking first to claim the early advantage.

As he received the ball in the middle of the park, there appeared to only be one thing on Emiliano Buendía’s mind.

The Spaniard superbly shifted the ball onto his preferred right-foot and, giving in to his inner instincts, curled a sensational, swerving shot goalwards.

Nick Pope was left utterly confounded as Buendía’s stunning opener sailed over him and found its home in the net behind.

The following moments saw the hosts settle into an uncharacteristic state of unnerve at St. James’ Park, as Villa continued to penetrate the black and qhite defensive lines and threaten to double their advantage.

Newcastle looked set to restore parity as Lewis Miley climbed highest to head Anthony Gordon’s cross, only for an acrobatic save from Emiliano Martínez to preserve the visitors’ lead going into the second half.

The hosts re-emerged onto the field of play seemingly invigorated following what can only be described as a frustrating and disappointing first half performance.

The arrival of ex-Aston Villa man Jacob Ramsey, who replaced the injured Joelinton, brought a much-needed resurgence to the Newcastle midfield that had until then struggled without Brazilian mainstay and captain Bruno Guimarães.

There appeared no better chance for the hosts to draw level than that which fell to Gordon who, unmarked at the back post, could only scuff his effort high into the stand behind.

A string of substitutions for either side followed, giving an already erratic encounter a breath of fresh air and an injection of energy Eddie Howe hoped would be the answer to reverse his side’s misfortune.

Yet as the conditions in Newcastle worsened, the performance of its side concurrently failed to improve. For a team that has conceded thirteen goals in its last four encounters at St. James’ Park, the visitors were in no mood to add to this unwanted record.

There was to be no way through Martínez and the resolute Aston Villa defence.

To add insult to injury, the visitors doubled their advantage moments before the 90-minute mark. Unmarked at the back-post, Ollie Watkins headed home with ease to double down on Newcastle’s misery and deliver the coup de grâce.