Newcastle United beat Aston Villa 3-0 in the Premier League on Thursday with goals from Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak and Joelinton, while Jhon Durán was sent off for the visitors, who suffered their fifth consecutive defeat.

Victory in the final home game of the year saw Newcastle move up to fifth with 29 points – ahead of Bournemouth on goal difference – while Villa dropped to ninth, a point behind Eddie Howe’s side.

En route to a return to the top four and the Champions League, Newcastle are in a purple state with three straight Premier League wins and 11 goals scored, while the team also kept three clean sheets.

Newcastle came out on top in the second minute when they won the ball back in midfield before Joelinton found Gordon on the left where the England winger fired a shot past Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez into the top corner.

While Villa hoped for an equalizer, the game became increasingly tense, with fouls occurring all over the pitch, leading to a stop-start contest and the visitors testing Martin Dúbravka in the Newcastle goal.

Michelle Mercer/Newcastle United via Getty Images

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But Villa shot themselves in the foot when Durán was red-carded in the 32nd minute for violent behavior for his stamp on Fabian Schär after a tackle and the VAR upheld the referee’s decision.

Durán, who has scored 12 goals in all competitions for Villa this season, kicked Schar’s leg and then his back before falling over.

As he left the pitch, the angry Colombian kicked a water bottle before heading down the tunnel.

“We conceded a goal early on and that’s demoralizing. And then the red card comes and that’s tough,” said Villa defender Ezri Konsa.

“From my point of view, it looked like Jhon Durán couldn’t move, but we can’t change that now. It ruined the game, especially because he was in good form. We have to keep going.”

Tensions erupted after the end of the first half, resulting in Newcastle’s assistant coach Jason Tindall and a Villa analyst also being sent off.

Newcastle continued to test Villa’s defense and doubled their lead in the 59th minute when Bruno Guimarães passed a ball through for Jacob Murphy and he passed the ball to Isak for an intervention.

It was Isak’s 24th goal of the calendar year, while the Swedish striker has scored in each of his last five league games.

“I love Alexander Isak, he has incredible qualities. He’s the right age, has the right athletic profile, I signed him and I love him. I wouldn’t trade him for anyone,” Howe said.

Minutes later Newcastle almost made it 3-0 but Martinez came to the rescue again when he parried a shot from Joelinton while Murphy pounced on the rebound and saw his shot hit the crossbar.

Emery made a triple substitution but it made no difference and Joelinton ended the defeat in stoppage time when he grabbed the ball in midfield, made an unhindered run and fired an emphatic shot from the edge of the box into the top corner.

But Howe isn’t resting on his laurels just yet and heads to Old Trafford for the final game of 2024.

“I’m going to go back and watch the game again and see where we can improve,” Howe said.

“We go to Manchester United on Monday with real quality and confidence.”