Five takeaways from Newcastle 3-0 Aston Villa - Emery schooled, fighting and festive form

Newcastle United made it four wins in a row in all competitions by comprehensively beating Aston Villa three nil on Boxing Day.

Ever since their odious banners in the Holte End in 2009 and 2016 following our relegations it is always a delight to send the Villans back to Birmingham with their tail firmly between their legs.

Goals from Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak and Joelinton secured the fully deserved victory. Jhon Duran was shown a red card for violent conduct but United were good value even before the Columbian’s cheap shot stamp on Fabian Schar. Enjoy your three-match ban Jhon.

Here are our five key takeaways from the game:

1. Eddie Howe schools Emery once again!

Eddie Howe made it five wins out of the last six against Villa on Boxing Day as he continues to have Unai Emery’s pants down on pretty much every occasion that we play them. Emery was the perfect facsimile of a spoiled child opening unwanted Xmas gifts on the touchline, throwing his arms about and huffing about on the verge of tears.

Even before the red card Newcastle were good value; had started the game well with some excellent direct passing moves from a solid defensive shape and relentlessly clicked up through the gears following the red card with three disallowed goals in addition to another two allowed.

Individually, Sandro Tonali has been the catalyst for Newcastle’s December run. His ability to read the game, protecting spaces in transitions [he made two tackles, two blocks, one interception and had the second most touches (85)] has seen the huge gap between defence and midfield of old disappear before our very eyes. Additionally, his deeper position has freed up Bruno to be our creator-in-chief with his flair and progressive passing now netting him goals, assists and key passes galore.

2. Tunnel Melee: Standing up for each other

One of the more interesting revelations following the game (Wham hoodie aside) came with the reports of a twenty-man melee in the tunnel at half time. Eddie Howe spoke on the matter after the game, saying:

‘There were probably 17 or 18 people trying to calm it down, so what it then looks like is that more people are involved. No one wants to see that. It’s not at all how I want my players or staff to be, but sometimes you have to stand up for what you think is right and protect each other. We're all standing up for ourselves in that moment, protecting ourselves.

The fracas led to Jason Tindall being sent off and watching the second half from the stands, but you’ll get no complaints from me – in fact, I’m delighted to hear the lads are fighting for each other off the pitch too, and its novel to hear Eddie talk like that also.

So much of football is marginal gains, from a raucous crowd to a key scouting report. Well, add-in having more desire, heart and fight than your opponents and channelling it in the right way (unlike Duran). It rattles opposition from the dugout to the stands, and it appeared to be missing during our difficult start. Now with it seemingly back we could be in for a sensational second half of the season.

3. Gordon is back

There has been a lot of debate around the Liverpudlian this year with his sensational 2023/24 form taking a dip following a disappointing Euro’s, where he deserved so much more gametime, seemingly bleeding into this season, causing that dip to become a nosedive.

Gordon offered some great post-game quotes stating:

‘We were becoming the nearly-men. The Brentford game was a poor loss. We played really badly. From then, it was like: “Who are we going to be?” Because we can keep missing out, but the table’s so tight that we can actually start taking advantage. From there, we haven’t looked back. I think we realised that was a point where we needed to really kick on. We have done.’

In a way, Gordon could’ve been speaking about himself, but his quotes could be interpretated as a macrocosm of the team’s overall form reflected in the microcosm of his own fluctuating form. Or perhaps that’s a too flowery a way of saying ‘when he plays well, the team play well’.

4. Red card debate is no debate at all

I think I made my feelings clear in the intro paragraph but just in case I didn’t let me be specific: Jhon Duran deserved to see red for a cheap, unwarranted, stamp on a prone Fabian Schar’s back that could’ve seriously injured a fellow professional as his boot moved towards his head.

It was cowardly and I hope he gets a further ban for hoofing a water bottle onto the pitch too.

But I want to reserve a special mention for Morgan Rogers. The lad has taken Kyle Walker’s crown for the most pathetic dive this season following his coming together with big Joe. The Brazilian raised his arm, but in the same manner as my two-year-old little cousin does when he wants to play with you, not a haymaker. Rogers hit the deck like he’d been decked by Mike Tyson in his prime, trying to get Joelinton sent off. It was embarrassing. The sooner bans are brought in for this kind of nonsense the better.

5. Ending 2024 in style

So that was the Newcastle United year that was…nearly. With one game to go, the sun is setting on one of the most inconstant in United’s Premier League history. Parts of the year appear like the team had been visited by a trio of witches, others like a comedy of errors and others like the sudden declaration of love from an aloof liege.

But United are now ending 2024 in style with back-to-back 4-0, 3-1, 0-4, and 3-0 victories and the return of penetrative, incise football and stout, imperious defending. Despite our poor record there, Old Trafford should hold no sway over us, as Man Utd are a desperate footballing side who have injuries and suspensions all over the shop.

Win there and it really will be the perfect end to an imperfect year. HWTL.