Sandro Tonali has brought Newcastle an abundance of riches but perhaps foremost among them it is the rare ability to slow games down that offers Eddie Howe’s high-intensity team the sort of invaluable control they have so often lacked in recent months.
With the Italian once again imperious at the base of midfield as he ran through his Andrea Pirlo-esque repertoire of short and long passes, seamless interceptions and all-round superior vision, Newcastle were in front even before Jhon Durán’s controversial sending-off in the 32nd minute.
Wolves v Manchester United: Premier League – live
By the end, the very much in-form Alexander Isak had scored again as Newcastle rose to fifth, vindicating their manager’s pre-match suggestion that they are realistic contenders for Champions League qualification again after all.
Newcastle were ahead after two minutes. It all began with Tonali demonstrating precisely why the recent upturn in Howe’s fortunes has coincided with the Italy midfielder’s relocation from a No 8 role to No 6.
His latest gamechanging intervention involved Tonali stealing possession near halfway before leaving Villa’s players to watch in horror as he, Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton combined to play in Anthony Gordon.
When Matty Cash unwisely backed off, the England left-winger cut inside on his right foot before directing a gloriously curling and dipping shot beyond the stretching Emiliano Martínez’s reach as it arrowed inexorably towards the far top corner.
Unai Emery’s unusually irascible body language suggested that Villa’s manager had not forgotten a rather warmer afternoon here in August 2023 when a debut-making Tonali and his new Newcastle teammates thrashed Villa 5-1.
Jhon Durán was sent off after treading on Newcastle’s Fabian Schär. Photograph: Aston Villa/Aston Villa FC/Getty Images
The Spaniard’s mood hardly lightened when Durán was subsequently shown a straight red card for violent conduct, namely stamping on the prone Fabian Schär’s thigh and back in the course of hurdling the defender during the fallout from a Schär sliding tackle.
Duran looked incandescent as he trudged off, claiming it was an accident. Although the slow-motion replays supplied a strong case for the prosecution, it was difficult to know where else the Colombian could have put his feet in real time.
skip past newsletter promotion
Sign up to Football Daily
Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
With Emery’s 10-man side now spearheaded by the impressive but out-of-position Morgan Rogers, and Tonali continuing to join the midfield dots for Newcastle as Villa became tetchier by the minute, the hosts strove to extend their lead. But Joelinton had a goal disallowed because the ball had strayed out of play before Isak could cut it back and Martínez made a superlative one-handed save to deny Tonali, so Villa’s damage-limitation mission succeeded until the break.
The start of the second half coincided with Ollie Watkins stepping off the visiting bench to replace the disappointing Youri Tielemans. It was not the only relocation; with Howe’s assistant, the ever-combustible Jason Tindall, having been shown a red card following an altercation as the teams left the pitch for the interval, Newcastle’s bench became a slightly calmer place.
Howe was soon celebrating after Guimarães’s fine pass and Jacob Murphy’s low cross prefaced Isak sending a first-time shot past Martínez from close range. It was Isak’s 11th goal in 18 appearances this season and the Swede soon, if albeit briefly, thought he had scored another only for that effort to be disallowed for offside.
After that a Murphy shot struck the bar when it might have been easier to score and, following a video assistant referee review, Guimarães had a goal ruled out for handball. But Joelinton’s swerving stoppage-time shot proved far too good for Martínez as he reminded everyone why he used to be a centre-forward. Given it was Newcastle’s 11th goal in three league games, a return to Europe in 2025 seems well within their reach.
