Newcastle 0-2 Aston Villa: Buendia nets stunner as Villa keep title hopes alive

Emi Buendia's spectacular strike and a late goal from Ollie Watkins secured a 2-0 win for Aston Villa and a first victory at Newcastle for nearly 21 years.

Match Report

Unai Emery's team were a shadow of their usual selves in their 1-0 loss to the Toffees last week, but they proved why they are in the Premier League title picture with a fantastic display at St James' Park on Sunday.

Sandro Tonali almost put Newcastle ahead inside 37 seconds, but Villa grew into the game and hit the front via a fantastic strike from Emiliano Buendia in the 19th minute.

Emiliano Martinez, on his 200th league appearance for Villa, made a strong save to deny Lewis Miley before half-time, and after Newcastle lost Joelinton to injury early in the second period, their comeback attempts fell flat.

Villa came on strong again in the closing stages, with Ollie Watkins testing Nick Pope from range before heading in the visitors' second when he met Lucas Digne's cross.

While Villa are back on level points with second-place Manchester City, Newcastle must now lick their wounds ahead of a crunch Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.

Data Debrief: Blunt attack costs Newcastle

Newcastle failed to score despite generating chances worth 2.3 expected goals, which is their highest xG tally without finding the back of the net in a Premier League game since a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace in September 2022 (2.8).

While Newcastle lost a home league game for the first time since September, Villa demonstrated their attacking edge.

Buendia's opener means Villa have netted 13 goals from outside the penalty area in the Premier League this season, the most of any side in the competition and their in the top flight since 2007-08 (16 on that occasion).

Digne then provided a sensational centre from which Watkins could hardly miss. Villa's goalscorers shared the attacking burden between them, with each of the duo having a team-high four attempts, and each getting three on target.

Match Events

19' GOAL! Newcastle 0-1 Aston Villa (Emiliano Buendía)

88' GOAL! Newcastle 0-2 Aston Villa (Ollie Watkins)

Line-ups

Newcastle XI: Trippier, Pope, Yoane Wissa, Joelinton, Barnes, Tonali, Gordon, Sven Botman, Malick Thiaw, Lewis Hall, Lewis Miley

Subs: Burn, Ramsdale, Willock, Anthony Elanga, Jacob Ramsey, Nick Woltemade, William Osula, Alex Murphy, Leo Shahar

Aston Villa XI: E. Martinez, Tielemans, Ollie Watkins, Buendia, P. Torres, Ngoyo, Matty Cash, Sancho, Morgan Rogers, Amadou Onana, Maatsen

Subs: Lindelof, Marco Bizot, Digne, Mings, Bailey, Evann Guessand, Elliott, Lamare Bogarde, George Hemmings