Aston Villa show off their key advantage to ignite Champions League charge | OneFootball

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Aston Villa could bounce from the Champions League straight back into the Champions League. Four days after being knocked out, they scored four goals to take a giant stride towards a swift return.

Newcastle United were last season’s upstart conquerors of Paris Saint-Germain and arguably the form team in England. They left Villa Park vanquished, their own chances of a top-five finish diminished as they were dismantled. Overpowered by Villa on the day, the danger is that they will be overtaken in the run-in.

“We are in our best moment,” said Unai Emery. For Villa, fresh from beating the potential Champions League winners, one seminal week may be leading to another. With Manchester City next, with an FA Cup semi-final on Saturday, a team with 10 wins in 11 games have momentum and strength in depth. Newcastle’s first defeat since the time when they had not won a trophy in decades came courtesy of Villa’s squad and Emery’s brilliance in using it.

When he made four changes to the starting 11, two of those he brought in, Ollie Watkins and Ian Maatsen, scored. When he made a double substitution, Jacob Ramsey promptly set up the third goal and Amadou Onana scored the fourth, one and three minutes after coming on respectively. Newcastle had the throwback tactic of naming the same 11 for a seventh consecutive game. There was no seventh straight win.

“Maybe today was a step too far for us,” said stand-in boss Jason Tindall. “Maybe a third game in six days caught up with us around about the hour.” After Newcastle inflicted 4-1 and 5-0 thrashings, they were subjected to a 4-1 drubbing. If they missed the absent Eddie Howe, watching this may not aid his recuperation.

The realist in Howe will know it could have been far worse. Villa hit the woodwork three times, drew three fine saves from Nick Pope and saw Marco Asensio miskick in front of goal. Villa had 23 shots. It felt they had even more. While Newcastle put up too little resistance, Villa were irresistible. Newcastle were battered in a way that they often assault opponents, with a thrilling physicality and at a breathtaking pace. They were pounded by the direct dribbling of Morgan Rogers and the unique, abrasive running of John McGinn.

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Aston Villa are dominant in victory over Newcastle (Reuters)

Above all, they – particularly a defence featuring three thirty-somethings – suffered at the hands of a man with a point to prove. A catalyst in Villa’s rise, Watkins was benched for both legs of the Champions League quarter-final. “I played 20 minutes against PSG in both games,” he said. “I am not going to lie, I was fuming that I wasn’t playing. I let him [Emery] know that.” Yet his was the right response. Recalled, he was remarkable, scoring in the first minute, hitting the woodwork in the fifth and again within half an hour.

Villa were ahead in 33 seconds. Sandro Tonali, who so often sets the right tone, set the wrong one, gifting possession to the terrific Youri Tielemans. He found Watkins, whose shot deflected in off Schar and enabled him to equal Gabriel Agbonlahor’s club record of 74 Premier League goals.

Watkins was inches from a hat-trick, rattling the bar with a rising shot, hitting the post when left unmarked to head Asensio’s free kick. It was an eloquent message that he should not be omitted again. “The manager is going to have a headache as I'm banging on the door asking why I’m not playing,” Watkins said. “To be angry is fantastic when he plays like he did today,” said Emery. Their meeting this week, he argued, was “a very good conversation”.

Newcastle paid for his anger. Watkins was ubiquitous as the first half revolved around two men to a ridiculous degree. Schar risked a red card for tugging back Watkins. He was reprieved, probably rightly, with a yellow and celebrated his escape by scoring, heading in Harvey Barnes’s deep cross.

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Ollie Watkins runs the show for Villa, having barely played against PSG in the Champions League (Action Images via Reuters)

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Fabian Schar nods home Newcastle’s only goal (AFP via Getty Images)

Yet he was tormented. For the right half of Newcastle’s defence, this was a traumatic evening. To varying degrees, all four Villa goals stemmed from that flank. They prospered in the inside-left channel patrolled by Schar and Kieran Trippier.

Villa restored their lead when Maatsen, a Champions League finalist last year with Borussia Dortmund, rifled in a shot after Watkins occupied the defence to lay the ball into the path of the overlapping left-back.

“In the second half, we were pushing with fresh legs and we won through that,” said Emery. Fresh legs, aided by the sharp thinking of their managerial mastermind after his inspired double switch. Enter Ramsey and Onana. The local surged down the left and crossed, looking for Tielemans but Dan Burn diverted the ball into his own net; in a way, it was the third time a Newcastle centre-back applied the telling touch for a goal.

Schar’s eventful evening continued as he coughed up possession for Villa’s fourth, lifted into the roof of the net by Onana. Two goals in three minutes finished off Newcastle. Villa had an 11th league goal by a replacement this season. They almost had a 12th when Ramsey hit the post. “You look at their squad, they have got a fantastic squad,” said Tindall. It is, Watkins said, the best in his time at the club. He could lament that when he was on the bench against PSG. But that squad could propel Villa back into the Champions League.