Aston Villa v Newcastle LIVE: Villa deliver crushing win in battle for Champions League spots | OneFootball

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Unai Emery would like Champions League return with Aston Villa

Aston Villa thumped top-five rivals Newcastle United 4-1 at Villa Park to keep themselves in the thick of the race for Champions League qualification.

Five days after being knocked out of Europe's top club competition by Paris St Germain in a thriller, Villa returned to Premier League action in emphatic fashion with Ollie Watkins opening the scoring inside the first minute.

Fabian Schar equalised for third-placed Newcastle with a header before half-time but Villa blazed clear after the break with Ian Maatsen restoring their lead before a Dan Burn own goal and substitute Amadou Onana's superb finish sealed the points.

Victory lifted Villa three points above Chelsea into sixth place with 57 points from 33 games, level with Nottingham Forest who play on Monday. Newcastle have 59 points, one more than fourth-placed Manchester City, in what is turning into a fierce battle to qualify for next season's Champions League. The top five will all qualify.

Spectacular Villa earned their win

Spectacular game, spectacular performance from Villa. They are not in the top five, Forest have a game in hand and Villa have some difficult matches.

And yet, if they play like this, they will surely end up in the Champions League spots. Which means two of Newcastle, Forest, Manchester City and Chelsea will not.

Newcastle, meanwhile, face a test to see how they can respond after their winning run ended.

Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle, 90+3 mins

Malen fancies getting in on the act but his shot across the face of goal is millimetres wide.

Luke Baker19 April 2025 19:23

Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle, 90 mins

Into six minutes of injury-time now, as Villa see this one out.

Luke Baker19 April 2025 19:20

Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle, 87 mins

Ramsey gets himself a yellow card for pulling back Livramento. Bit of afters between Ramsey and Guimaraes afterward but nothing too serious.

Luke Baker19 April 2025 19:19

Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle, 82 mins

More subs as Matt Targett comes on for Newcastle, while Villa make a triple sub - Marcus Rashford, Ross Barkley and Donell Malen on for Watkins, Rogers and Kamara

Luke Baker19 April 2025 19:13

Emery plays his cards right

What a 12 minutes or so for Aston Villa and what a double change by Unai Emery.

Jacob Ramsey came on to set up a goal, Amadou Onana to score one. Villa have been much the better team today. Now the scoreline shows that.

(Action Images via Reuters)

Richard Jolly at Villa Park19 April 2025 19:12