Newcastle United 3 Aston Villa 0 - Newcastle United

In their final fixture of the calendar year at St. James' Park, the Magpies got off to a flying start courtesy of Anthony Gordon's stunning strike inside the early exchanges before the visitors were reduced to ten men shortly after the half-hour mark following Jhon Durán's straight red card after a dangerous foul on United defender Fabian Schär.

Alexander Isak's close-range tap-in before the hour mark doubled the Magpies' lead, with the Swedish forward netting in his fifth consecutive Premier League game in the process, before Joelinton's emphatic stoppage-time strike rounded off a fourth successive win in all competitions for Eddie Howe's side, moving into fifth place of the English top-flight.

After netting within 27 seconds of last weekend's 4-0 victory against Ipswich Town, Newcastle scored after 81 seconds following Gordon's excellent effort. The Liverpool-born winger collected Joelinton's pass towards the left flank after the Brazilian completed a surging run towards goal before the former curled a terrific effort from the edge of the box into the top right-hand corner.

Martin Dúbravka produced a key stop to prevent Lucas Digne from levelling for the visitors as the Slovakian goalkeeper pushed away the Frenchman's free-kick from the edge of the box before Matty Cash directed the resulting rebound wide of the target.

Schär went close to extending Newcastle's lead further as the Swiss centre-back's free-kick from the edge of the penalty area in front of the Gallowgate End was pushed out by Martínez.

Durán was sent off for the visitors moments later after the Colombian striker was beaten in a race to a loose ball by the sliding Schär before leaving studs on the Newcastle defender, with referee Anthony Taylor brandishing a straight red card.

Joelinton looked to have netted Newcastle's second goal of the afternoon after firing the ball home from Alexander Isak's cutback but the ball had strayed out of play on the right byline to the frustration of the home crowd.

Sandro Tonali, who scored on his Premier League debut against the Villans on the opening weekend of the 2023/24 season, went close to scoring before the half-time whistle. After Bruno Guimarães dispossessed Youri Tielemans on the edge of the box before cleverly teeing up Tonali, the Italian's first-time effort inside the box was pushed around the post by Martínez.

After the restart, which saw Magpies assistant coach Jason Tindall sent off during the half-time break, Murphy went close to continuing his bright goalscoring form as the right-winger, targeting a fourth goal in his last three league outings, pounced on John McGinn's misplaced pass before his resulting effort at goal deflected wide of the target.

Isak, who scored a brace in last season's 5-1 win against Aston Villa at St. James' Park, went close to scoring in his fifth consecutive Premier League match after controlling Guimarães' pass before his stabbed shot at goal was held by Martínez.

In the 59th minute, however, Isak netted his seventh goal in his last five league matches. After Guimarães threaded a delightful through ball into Murphy's path, the latter fired a low cross into the six-yard area, with Isak on hand to calmly stroke the ball home from close-range.

The Swedish frontman had the ball in the net minutes later, emphatically placing the ball home from Murphy's pass after combining neatly with the latter, but the goal was disallowed after Isak appeared to stray into an offside position.

Newcastle continued their search in extending their advantage as Murphy struck the crossbar. After Joelinton retrieved Martínez's pass inside the box, the Brazilian's initial shot was blocked by Ezri Konsa before Murphy slammed a vicious effort against the woodwork.

Guimarães looked to have extended United's lead further after Konsa's intended goalline clearance from Harvey Barnes' trickling effort at goal thumped off the Brazilian into the net but, following a VAR check, the goal was disallowed after the ball adjudged to hit the Magpies skipper's arm.

In the first minute of stoppage-time, Joelinton added gloss to the scoreline as the Brazilian midfielder advanced towards goal and, after being granted time and space on the edge of the box, hammered a powerful strike into the top right-hand corner to round off Newcastle's calendar year on home soil in winning fashion.

Newcastle United: Martin Dúbravka, Kieran Trippier (Matt Targett 78), Fabian Schär, Dan Burn, Lewis Hall, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimarães (c) (Lewis Miley 90), Joelinton, Jacob Murphy (Joe Willock 78), Anthony Gordon (Harvey Barnes 78), Alexander Isak (Will Osula 90).

Subs not used: Odysseas, Lloyd Kelly, Sean Longstaff, Miguel Almirón.