Newcastle United 2-0 Aston Villa - How The Pantomime Villain Became The Toast Of Tyneside

Before the game, there seemed to be a feeling that last night's game against Aston Villa was a must win, and that the game would be difficult.

If truth be told, both of those things were true. Villa were well organised, pressed high and had a great work ethic, everything that you would expect from a struggling team hoping to get a result against one of the top sides in their division.

However, despite this, the quality of the Newcastle players shone through and they were able to win by two goals to nil, playing some wonderful football in the second half of the game.

Another thing that everyone was sure of, going into the game,  was that Henri Lansbury would definitely not receive a warm welcome, and shockingly, he didn't.

The former Nottingham Forest man was booed and jeered for almost the entire game, following a performance that would have been more suited to a pantomime than a football match, the last the that he played against Newcastle.

Actually, the only time that Lansbury was not booed was for a brief period following Newcastle's second goal. The reason? He was the one who scored it. Lansbury's own goal doubled Newcastle's lead, following a first half strike from Yoan Gouffran, which was met by a brief chorus of "there's only one Henri Lansbury."

However, that was soon drowned out by a far less complementary song about the Villa midfielder.

In summary, Newcastle fans could not have wished for a better night. A comfortable win against a massive club, and the player who wanted so badly to be the villain of the piece sealing the win for them.