Newcastle 3-0 Aston Villa: Red-hot Alexander Isak fires home 11th of the season as Magpies cruise past Villa after Jhon Duran red card
- In-form Alexander Isak struck again as Newcastle ran riot against Aston Villa
- Anthony Gordon netted inside two minutes to get the Magpies off to a flyer
One change has changed everything for Newcastle. They were 12th in the Premier League a few weeks ago when Eddie Howe shuffled his midfield pack and found an ace in Sandro Tonali. He’s got a deck full of aces now.
Four wins on the spin – three of them in the league without conceding a goal – has them fifth in the table and in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup. As it stands, the league position would mean Champions League qualification.
It would be wrong, however, to say this is the Newcastle of old, the vintage that tore into the top four two seasons ago. This new version does not need to play with their foot to the floor from start to finish. Not when they’ve got Tonali at the wheel in a new No 6 position. At times, it is cruise control.
And that is what has been so impressive about their mid-season revival. They have won with minimum fuss, even if this game was the fussiest of their quartet of victories, including a 20-man melee in the tunnel at half-time that saw assistant boss Jason Tindall dismissed.
Newcastle had to be better here than they needed to be against Leicester, Brentford and Ipswich this month, and were undoubtedly aided by Jhon Duran’s brainless red card in the first half. But they still had the game’s best players, and none better than Tonali, who patrols and controls at the base of their midfield.
Villa boss Unai Emery was right when he said his team had reacted well to falling behind to Anthony Gordon’s opener after 81 seconds, but he was wrong to claim Duran was harshly treated by referee Anthony Taylor and the VAR officials.
Anthony Gordon gave Newcastle the lead inside a minute with a superb strike from the left
He received the ball from Joelinton before sending the St James’s Park faithful wild
Aston Villa were getting back into the game but Jhon Duran got sent off for a stamp
Alexander Isak then scored his 11th of the Premier League campaign from a cross
The Colombian was sent off in the 31st minute for landing his studs on the back of Fabian Schar after the sliding defender had beaten him to the ball. As he left the pitch, Duran kicked a bottle of water far harder than he had connected with Schar. But force is irrelevant, and the officials were right to determine he had intended to come down on his opponent’s backside and then spine. Replays showed his leg was high enough to alter the course of its descent.
From that point, it was downhill for Villa. Alexander Isak and Joelinton added second-half goals for the hosts, and Howe agreed there is a new-look efficiency and authority to his team.
‘I would hope we have moved on from that team (of 2022-23),’ he said. ‘That team was outstanding. But we had to evolve and had to be better with the ball. I hope that’s the direction we’re going in, although the principles of being attacking and scoring goals remain the same. We are winning strongly and not by luck.’
Newcastle started fast and led after 81 seconds when Tonali won the ball on halfway. He fed Bruno Guimaraes, who helped it on to Joelinton – there you have Howe’s midfield three – and he found Anthony Gordon. The winger chopped inside onto his right boot and found the top corner from 18 yards.
They should have led by more at the break and were again on the front foot in the tunnel, with Howe later confirming that a large number of his players had intervened when Tindall was involved in a confrontation with Villa analyst Victor Manas. Both backroom staff were sent to the stands for the second half.
Newcastle made it two just before the hour when Isak finished off a brilliant team move involving Guimaraes and Jacob Murphy, who rolled across the six-yard area for the Swede to convert. That is seven goals in five games in the Premier League for Isak, and it is hard to think of a better striker in world football right now.
The scoring was complete in stoppage-time when Joelinton strode into the penalty area and bent into the top corner. The assist belonged to Villa’s Amadou Onana, and that summed up their miserable second half.
Tonali did not score this time – he netted twice during last week’s Carabao Cup win over Brentford – but he is the reason for the turnaround. At No 6, he is Newcastle’s No 1.
