The Good, The Bad, and The Average #22: NUFC player ratings vs. Aston Villa (h) [PL18]

Newcastle United gallivanted up to fifth in the league with an easy 3-0 victory over Aston Villa thanks to lovely goals from Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak, and Joelinton.

Unai Emery's hapless travellers made the worst possible start when conceding after just 81 seconds and it would go from bad to worse for Villa thanks to the idiotic Jhon Duran.

The Colombian striker was deservedly sent off in the 32nd minute for a stamp on Fabian Schär's hindquarters after being tackled emphatically by our number five.

From there the outcome of the contest was never in doubt and it could have been a much larger margin of victory had our finishing been of a higher quality.

Here's how we scored all involved on another brilliant afternoon at Gallowgate, as the Magpies completed a quartet of festive victories with a whopping 14 goals scored and just one conceded. Merry Christmas, indeed! 🎅🏻

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United

The Good

We were torn between our brilliant Brazilians Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton for the highly-coveted NUFCFEED Man of the Match award, but the captain just edged it on his overall contribution. Joelinton's awesome late strike to cap the victory almost swung it his way, but Bruno seemed to be at the heart of everything good about our play. The pass to set Murphy clear for the second goal was a beauty.

Alexander Isak won't score too many easier goals than that one today. He's been contributing plenty apart from goals in recent matches, though, with his dropping off into the pocket a key part of our attacking patterns. He showed some wonderful touches and probably could have scored another goal, while he did a good job of leading the press.

We love the partnership between Dan Burn and Fabian Schär at the heart of our defence. They were key to us staying up in Eddie Howe's early period as Head Coach and they've rediscovered that sort of form recently. Burn was a man mountain once again and barely put a foot wrong, while Schär was back to his best in terms of his in-possession play.

Out wide, Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy both played huge parts in the victory. Gordon got the ball rolling with a superb opening goal after just 81 seconds, with his defensive covering and work rate notable again. Murphy had a typically nuts game, getting a fine assist for Isak, but missing two huge opportunities to score and make the game safe at 2-0.

Sandro Tonali continues to impress in the middle of the pitch but will be kicking himself for the missed chance on the stroke of half-time. He's still a bit too lax in possession at times for our tastes and can look for passes that aren't on due to teammates not being on his wavelength, but his overall game has been tip-top for weeks now. He's enjoying his football.

It was nice to see Kieran Trippier back in the XI and performing well, though it was a shame to see him forced off with injury midway through the second half. We're running short on right-backs at the moment! Lewis Hall is becoming one of those players that gives you at least a 7/10 every time he steps foot on the pitch, too, which is fantastic to see.

Behind them, Martin Dúbravka deserves immense credit for how he's deputised for Nick Pope over the festive period. He should have had four clean sheets in his four appearances but for Yoane Wissa's offside-looking goal in the cup. While this was another quiet 90 minutes for the Slovak, he only had one or two dodgy moments and was very solid on the whole.

We mentioned in our last report how well Eddie Howe has done since the Brentford loss, with the team looking revitalised with Tonali sitting deeper and Bruno being given license to attack more. The reintroduction of Murphy has also been huge for our balance and we're back to having 11 players who look right at their peak levels at the most crucial time of the season. Well played, gaffer, even if you did look a bit lonely without Jason Tindall beside you in the second half.

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United

The Bad

That's now two 3/10 performances for Anthony Taylor when refereeing our games this season. What a whopper he is, who seems determined to make it all about him at every opportunity. We'll give him credit for being brave enough to send Jhon Duran off, but the rest of his afternoon was stinking. He was probably worse for Villa than for us, which is saying something.

Aston Villa were doing pretty well at 1-0 despite the early shock of conceding and made this one of the most competitive games seen at St James' this season. Duran's stupidity killed them off, thankfully, and they never looked likely to spark a comeback from there. They couldn't have complained if we'd hit them for five or six again, if we're being honest.

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United

The Average

Matt Targett, Harvey Barnes, and Joe Willock were the first reinforcements called from the bench but the game was effectively over as a contest by the time they arrived. Barnes had one sniff of goal from a tight angle, Targett made a couple of good defensive actions in an unusual right-back position for him, and Willock was lively enough without offering any real threat.

Neither Will Osula nor Lewis Miley had enough time to make a significant impact when arriving in the 93rd minute. Still, Osula almost forced an opening with some good harrying of the Villa defence. Miley looked as assured as he always does and helped to further take the sting out of the game.

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United

The Breakdown

We do love a sea of 8s and 9s!

The XI

Martin Dúbravka – 7

Kieran Trippier – 8 (off 78')

Fabian Schär – 9

Dan Burn – 9

Lewis Hall – 8

Bruno Guimarães (c) – 9 ⭐️ (off 90+3')

Sandro Tonali – 8

Joelinton – 9

Jacob Murphy – 8 (off 78')

Alexander Isak – 9 (off 90+3')

Anthony Gordon – 8 (off 79')

The Subs

Matt Targett – 6 (on 78')

Harvey Barnes – 6 (on 78')

Joe Willock – 6 (on 79')

Will Osula – 6 (on 90+3')

Lewis Miley – 6 (on 90+3')

The Gaffer

Eddie Howe – 8

The Opposition

Aston Villa – 5

The Ref

Anthony Taylor – 3

Getty Images

The Next

It's Old Trafford on Monday night for a showdown with our least favourite club in the division. We surely go there full of confidence for an 8 p.m. (GMT) kick-off live on Sky Sports.

Another win would be massive in our pursuit of a top-five finish. Let's hope their defence is as leaky as their roof and the ceiling in their press office...

Howay the lads!