Newcastle crush 10-man Villa after Duran sees red

Newcastle United beat Aston Villa 3-0 in the Premier League on Thursday with goals from Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak and Joelinton while Jhon Duran was sent off for the visitors who crashed to a fifth straight away defeat.

Victory in the last home game of the year moved Newcastle up to fifth on 29 points – ahead of Bournemouth on goal difference – while Villa fell to ninth, a point behind Eddie Howe's side.

In their quest to return to the top four and the Champions League, Newcastle are in a purple patch of form with three straight Premier League wins having scored 11 goals and three clean sheets.

Newcastle got off to a flier in the second minute when they won the ball back in midfield before Joelinton found Gordon on the left, where the English winger curled a shot past Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez and into the top corner.

As Villa looked for an equaliser, the game got increasingly physical with fouls all across the pitch leading to a stop-start contest and the visitors did test Martin Dubravka in Newcastle's goal.

But Villa shot themselves in the foot when Jhon Duran was sent off in the 32nd minute for a straight red card for violent conduct for his stamp on Fabian Schar following a tackle, with VAR confirming the referee's decision.

Jhon Duran, who has scored 12 goals in all competitions for Villa this season, first stamped Schar's leg and then his back before falling over.

As he walked off the pitch, the livid Colombian kicked a water bottle before going down the tunnel.

'KILLED THE GAME'

"We conceded early and that's demoralising. And then the red card happens and that's tough," Villa defender Ezri Konsa said.

"From where I was, it looked like Jhon Duran couldn't move but we can't change it now. It killed the game, especially as he's been in good form. We have to move on."

Tensions flared after the first half ended which led to Newcastle assistant manager Jason Tindall and a Villa analyst also being sent off.

Newcastle continued to probe Villa's defence and doubled their lead in the 59th minute when Bruno Guimaraes slipped a ball through for Jacob Murphy and he squared the ball to Isak for a tap-in.

It was Isak's 24th goal of the calendar year while the Swedish striker has scored in each of his last five league matches.

"I love Alexander Isak, he has unbelievable quality. He's the right age, has the right athletic profile, I signed him and love him. I wouldn't swap him for anyone," Howe said.

Minutes later, Newcastle nearly made it 3-0 but Martinez came to the rescue once again when he saved a shot from Joelinton while Murphy pounced on the rebound and saw his shot come off the crossbar.

Emery made a triple substitution but it made no difference and Joelinton completed the rout in stoppage time when he nicked the ball in midfield, made an unimpeded run and fired an emphatic strike from the edge of the box into the top corner.

But Howe is not resting on his laurels yet with a trip to Old Trafford coming up in their final game of 2024.

"I will go back and watch the game again and see where we can improve," Howe said.

"We go to Manchester United on Monday with real quality and confidence."