Following their morale-boosting win over Manchester City on Saturday, Unai Emery’s men were hoping to build on that victory in Tyneside. However, the Toon Army were in full voice and celebrating within two minutes of the contest.
A quick break forward saw Joelinton pick out Anthony Gordon on the edge of the box, and he took a touch before curling a pinpoint effort into the far corner.
Villa took a while to get going, with Lucas Digne’s whipped free-kick that was palmed away by Martin Dúbravka their best opening early on.
Just as the Villans began to grow into the encounter, they were dealt a major blow just after the half-hour mark. Jhon Durán went into a 50-50 challenge with Fabian Schär, but the Colombian’s follow-through was deemed to be dangerous and the striker was shown a straight red card.
The home side dominated following that game-changing moment and thought they had netted a second on 43 minutes when Alexander Isak’s pullback was fired in by Joelinton, but the in-form Swede took the ball over the byline.
Sandro Tonali then saw an effort turned around the post by Emiliano Martínez as Eddie Howe’s men finished the half on top.
Newcastle picked up right where they left off following the restart, launching wave after wave of attacks at the Villa goal. The rampant pressure paid dividends just before the hour mark, as Jacob Murphy ripped through the Villa defence and squared the ball for Isak to tap in.
The Swede thought he had doubled his tally minutes later but his goal was chalked off for offside. Murphy was proving problematic for the visitors’ defence, wreaking havoc down the right flank, but the winger was denied a goal by the woodwork after his shot cannoned off the crossbar.
The home side had the ball in the back of the net once more before full time, but Bruno Guimarães’ effort was ruled out for a handball in the build-up.
That had no effect on the overall result however, as his Brazilian compatriot Joelinton curled in a brilliant finish in stoppage time, as a dominant Boxing Day display gave Newcastle a huge triumph against top-four chasing Aston Villa, whose struggles in the north-east continue.