BREAKING NEWS: Aston Villa 4 Newcastle 1 – Watkins shows his value; visitors’ lack of rotation is costly

Aston Villa romped to a big win over visitors Newcastle, striking a hefty blow on one of their rivals in the race for Champions League qualification.

Goals from Ollie Watkins, Ian Maatsen and Amadou Onana, plus a Dan Burn own goal, saw Unai Emery’s side move up to sixth place in the table, but within two points of Newcastle in third with five games to go.

The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell, George Caulkin and Chris Waugh pick apart the key talking points…

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Ollie Watkins proves his value

Despite remaining their top scorer, Ollie Watkins’ importance to Aston Villa and manager Unai Emery has noticeably reduced in recent months. A consequence of his toiling form and Villa having richer attacking depth, the England striker is no longer looked to as the team’s key source of goals.

Watkins has been omitted from crunch matches, such as both legs of the recent Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain, with Emery favouring Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford, who is now regarded as a No 9 in his system, coming off the bench after 79 minutes of the game in France and after 82 in the return.

This has essentially led to Watkins becoming overlooked in Villa’s quest to secure Champions League football again next season, struggling for rhythm and to overcome small, frustrating injuries. His future has been a bone of contention since Arsenal made their interest in signing him known in January and discussions will be held as to his longer-term plans this summer.

Having been chosen to start this time around, the onus was on the 29-year-old to rediscover the form that made him the first player in Europe’s top five leagues last season to register 15 goals and 10 assists.

To exacerbate the necessity of finding momentum quickly, Watkins was one goal away from Gabriel Agbonlahor’s record as Villa’s record Premier League goalscorer (74).

As it transpired, the tension in him vanished inside the opening minute.

After wriggling away from pressure, he hit a strike that deflected off Newcastle’s Fabian Schar and past Nick Pope in goal. It gave the forward a confidence boost and meant he was level with Agbonlahor.

Watkins was then a threat throughout the match, constantly running off Newcastle’s centre-backs and showing clarity in his decision-making. He brought team-mates into play and was at the heart of Villa’s best work, hitting the crossbar with a powerful left-footed effort before heading against the post. In the game’s first 28 minutes, Watkins had scored and hit two different parts of the woodwork.

He had a penalty appeal dismissed and gave Schar a scare when the defender— who was Newcastle’s last man — brought him down. The referee, Jarred Gillett, showed Schar a yellow card, though the decision was borderline as most of the Villa Park crowd yelled for a sending off.

His second-half assist for Ian Maatsen’s goal was from a typical Watkins position and from a typical Villa move — ripping Newcastle open through the middle before the ball found him in the inside left channel. His weight of pass was perfect for Maatsen’s overlap and strike, offering a reminder of how big an advantage a fit and firing Watkins gives his team.

Jacob Tanswell

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Emery’s subs pay off again

Emery’s penchant for inspired substitutions has been something of a trend in recent times. All three goals against Southampton last week were scored by replacements and the theme continued a week later.

Villa were good in the first half, but mindful of Newcastle’s threat. Emery has been able to rotate over the past month due to having every player fit and available and having incredible strength in depth, so there is not a discernible drop-off if changes are made.

His team are peaking heading into the defining part of the season and also within matches. As Newcastle’s legs grew weary here, Villa came on strong, playing towards their favoured Holte End and powered by their subs.

Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana were introduced in the 72nd minute, and in the space of three minutes had both played an integral part in Villa scoring twice more to put the game away. Ramsey crossed for Dan Burn’s deflected own goal, while Onana’s strike — first-time from outside the box — was thunderous and met with a similar response from supporters.

Villa often score twice in quick succession, and such impact from the bench is critical in winning matches against fellow rivals for a Champions League spot.

Jacob Tanswell

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Newcastle suffer for lack of rotation

For Newcastle, familiarity has bred content.

For the seventh game in succession, their starting lineup was unchanged, becoming the first Premier League side since 2016 to do this across all competitions.

Jason Tindall, again filling in for the ill Eddie Howe, said before kick-off that his team “picks itself” after a run of six consecutive victories but, in retrospect, perhaps it should not have done. On this occasion, consistency of selection brought inconsistency of performance.

While Tindall’s logic was understandable — there is always a reluctance to change a winning side — fatigue rippled through Newcastle in what was their third game in seven days. After those fine victories over Manchester United and Crystal Palace by a combined scoreline of nine goals to one, Newcastle’s efforts caught up with them.

Across the pitch, there were heavy legs. Kieran Trippier was targeted by Villa at right-back, Bruno Guimaraes waded through treacle in midfield and Alexander Isak struggled to make any impact up front. They were far from alone. In terms of athleticism and physicality, Villa had the measure of their guests, bouncing back from their acute disappointment in the Champions League in midweek.