Aston Villa beat Newcastle, close gap on Arsenal
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The win moved Unai Emery’s side to within four points of league leaders Arsenal, who are still to face Manchester United later on Sunday.
Aston Villa kept their Premier League title ambitions on track with a convincing 2-0 victory over Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Sunday.
The win moved Unai Emery’s side to within four points of league leaders Arsenal, who are still to face Manchester United later on Sunday.
Villa were keen to respond after last weekend’s shock 1-0 home defeat to Everton and did just that with a disciplined and clinical performance.
Emi Buendia opened the scoring in the 19th minute, firing a superb long-range strike to put the visitors in control and hand Villa their first win at St James’ Park since 2005.
Newcastle struggled for creativity, badly missing injured captain Bruno Guimaraes, as their push for Champions League qualification suffered a major setback.
Ollie Watkins sealed the victory late on, rising highest to nod home Lucas Digne’s cross two minutes from time.
Despite the defeat, Newcastle remain ninth on the table, just three points off the top-five places, which are expected to secure Champions League qualification.
Villa, chasing their first league title since 1981, strengthened their grip on a European return and now hold an 11-point lead over sixth-placed Manchester United.
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