Aston Villa Edge Newcastle at St James' Park to Seal 100th Premier League Win for Emery

Aston Villa secured a 1-0 victory over Newcastle at St James' Park to move level on points with the Magpies. Johann Manzambi netted the only goal of the game in the 36th minute as the hosts failed to find a second-half breakthrough, handing Villa manager Unai Emery his 100th Premier League victory.

Joelinton made his first start of the campaign for Newcastle, replacing Jacob Murphy in midfield in the only change made by Matthias Jaissle. Dan Burn returned to the matchday squad but had to settle for a place on the bench. Unai Emery, meanwhile, made four alterations to the side that put six past Fenerbahçe in the Champions League in midweek, with Tyrone Mings, João Gomes, Emiliano Buendía, and Alysson Edward coming in for Ross Barkley, John McGinn, Pau Torres, and Ibrahim Mbaye.

Jackson squandered a golden opportunity in the ninth minute after being slipped clean through on goal by Alysson against Hornicek. The forward hesitated before getting his shot away, firing straight into the arms of the goalkeeper. After the opening quarter of an hour, both sides traded threatening attacks, with Willock and Cash each hitting the side-netting.

Jackson spurned another chance before Johann Manzambi gave the visitors a deserved lead in the 36th minute, heading home a Gomes cross. Three minutes later, Buendía nearly doubled the advantage, but his effort struck the post and rebounded off the goalkeeper's back without crossing the line.

Sven Botman unleashed a powerful, dangerous drive in the 49th minute, but Suzuki produced a brilliant save to turn it away.

The hosts controlled possession throughout the second half but struggled to create genuine danger in front of Villa's goal. Wissa missed the target with two headers, while Villa came close to adding a second in the 73rd minute when Hornicek reacted sharply to deny Barkley's low effort.

Substitute Mbaye missed a good chance for the visitors in the 83rd minute, before Wissa was guilty of an even bigger miss two minutes later, driving into the penalty area and shooting wide instead of picking out Barnes. In the 90th minute, Mbaye made a fine run forward and decided to go alone, but his attempt flew off target.

Deep into the sixth minute of stoppage time, chaos broke out in the Villa box, but no Newcastle player could provide the finishing touch before Mings made a vital clearance.