As Aston Villa beat Newcastle United 3-0 in their match on 15.04.2023, the former has now moved up to the 6th place in the Premier League standings. A double strike by Ollie Watkins in the second half after an early goal by Jacob Rasmey just 11 minutes into the first half, allowed the men in Red & White to clinch a convincing victory over Newcastle at Villa Park.
Ollie Watkins has been in prolific form this season, and he continued with his fiery performance, scoring two goals for Aston, steering his team to an emphatic victory that boosted their European hopes. The victory also brought Newcastle United’s spectacular five-match winning streak to a shuddering halt.
In the opening minutes, Unai Emery’s team controlled play, and Watkins nearly scored when he rattled the woodwork after dodging Sven Botman’s charge. Watkins’ cushioned header from Jacob Ramsey was stroked low into the goal to give Aston a well-deserved lead. The dominance persisted throughout the whole first half, and after a lopsided start that saw Ramsey hit the crossbar, Pope saved a second Watkins shot to start the second half.
Newcastle did however show some signs of fight back with a few valiant attempts at scoring their opening goal. Newcastle improved after the break, but Watkins gave the home team breathing room with a close-range strike before adding the last goal late in the game. Newcastle’s Alexander Isak had a drive parried over the bar by Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Inside the first thirty minutes, Villa had a chance to go up 3-0, but they were twice stopped by the goal frame. Watkins also forced a superb save from Pope shortly after Ramsey’s goal. Three minutes into the second half, the England custodian denied Watkins once more. By the hour mark, Watkins thought he had finally scored until the video assistant referee declared him just barely offside.
The home crowd enjoyed the victory over Newcastle at Villa Park Stadium, which also improved support for the squad and Emery’s reputation. Newcastle was powerless against Villa’s aggressive game plan as they swarmed Villa Park. They overcame a sluggish start at Brentford last weekend to earn their sixth straight league victory, but they hardly really made an attempt to recover against Emery’s team.
Wins and Losses are a part and parcel of this sport and in all fairness, Newcastle United has been fantastic with their performance this season, sitting comfortably at the 4th spot in the league rankings. However, beating a superior Newcastle team by a convincing margin has boosted the spirits of Aston Villa.
