Premier League: Newcastle 3 (Gordon 2, Isak 59, Joelinton 90+1) Aston Villa 0
Alexander Isak struck for the 10th time in 10 Premier League games as Newcastle ripped 10-man Aston Villa apart to climb into the top five.
Anthony Gordon had fired the hosts into a second-minute lead, but a tight game changed with Villa striker Jhon Duran’s first-half dismissal for stamping on defender Fabian Schar and Isak took full advantage with a second – 14 minutes after the break, his 12th goal of the season – before Joelinton cemented a 3-0 win at the death.
It might have been more on a day when the Magpies saw three further goals ruled out, while goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was in fine form, but he could not prevent the visitors from extending their miserable run without a win on Tyneside to 17 games in front of a crowd of 52,168.
The hosts got off to the perfect start with less than two minutes gone when Joelinton, back in the team after suspension, broke from his own half and fed Gordon on the left and saw him cut inside full-back Matty Cash before curling an unstoppable shot across Martinez.
A Villa side unchanged from their weekend victory over Manchester City eased their way into the game without ever threatening Martin Dubravka’s goal, but Gordon dragged a 12th-minute effort wide at the other end after exchanging passes with Isak as Newcastle continued to look the more dangerous.
Amadou Onana and Morgan Rogers, with support from full-backs Lucas Digne and Cash, helped to give Villa a foothold, and Dubravka had to make a solid save to keep out Digne’s 22nd-minute free-kick before Cash skied the rebound over from a tight angle.
Joelinton headed straight at a well-positioned Martinez from Gordon’s cross three minutes later, after a mesmerising run from Isak, but the keeper had to make a fine save to keep out Schar’s 31st-minute free-kick.
However, Villa were reduced to 10 men seconds later when striker Duran’s boot made contact with Schar’s back after the Switzerland international’s sliding challenge and referee Anthony Taylor produced a red card, much to head coach Unai Emery’s disgust.
Joelinton had the ball in the net from Isak’s cross two minutes before the break – but to Villa’s relief – only after it had run out of play as the Swede skipped past Digne, and Martinez made a brilliant save seconds later to deny Sandro Tonali after he had been played in by Bruno Guimaraes.
Newcastle assistant Jason Tindall and a Villa analyst were sent off after an incident in the tunnel at half-time.
Striker Ollie Watkins replaced midfielder Youri Tielemans at the break as the 10 men looked for a way back into the game, but Martinez had to get down well to collect Isak’s 54th-minute strike after Guimaraes had slid him in.
However, there was nothing the keeper could do to prevent Isak from stretching the lead when he slid home Murphy’s cross with Guimaraes once again the instigator.
The Swede had a second goal disallowed for offside three minutes later after he and Murphy had carved open Emery’s men once again, Murphy hit the crossbar before Guimaraes saw a late effort ruled out after Ezri Konsa’s clearance ended up in the back of the net, but via his arm.
But the third goal arrived in stoppage time when Joelinton picked up Onana’s loose pass and curled the ball past the helpless Martinez.
Nottingham Forest 1 (Elanga 28) Tottenham Hotspur 0
Nottingham Forest strengthened their European ambitions with a 1-0 win over Tottenham, whose miserable season took a turn for the worse.
Anthony Elanga’s first-half goal was enough for Forest to consolidate their position in the top four as the mist gathered at City Ground and the outlook keeps getting gloomier for under-pressure Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.
The embattled Australian watched his side lose for a fifth time in eight Premier League games and the pressure is growing as they languish in the bottom half of the table after a first Boxing Day defeat since 2003.
While Spurs, who had DJed Spence sent off at the death, ponder a season of mediocrity, Forest are daring to dream after posting a fourth successive Premier League win for the first time since 1995.
They have already surpassed their points total from last season and are looking like genuine contenders for European qualification, which outlines the impressive job Nuno Espirito Santo has done at the City Ground.
Given Postecoglou’s stubborn refusal to alter from his attacking approach, it was no surprise that chances at both ends came quickly.
Son Heung-min shot straight at Matz Sels after Murillo had given the ball away and then Callum Hudson-Odoi fired over with a trademark effort cutting in from the right soon after.
Brennan Johnson could have scored on his return to the City Ground after being played in by returning Spurs midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, but Sels did well.
Just as it looked like Spurs were taking control, Forest went in front in the 29th minute after a quick break.
Morgan Gibbs-White galloped into space and played in Elanga, who beat the offside trap and coolly clipped home for his third goal in three games.
The visitors’ response was good and Forest needed another big save from Sels to keep their lead intact, again denying Johnson with a flying stop.
Son then whipped a 20-yard free-kick inches wide as Spurs pressed, but Forest got into half-time unscathed.
They had a chance to double their lead early in the second half when Fraser Forster flapped at a cross and it fell kindly to Gibbs-White, but the goalkeeper recovered well to block the shot.
Spurs kept on creating chances as Johnson cleverly made space for himself, but Sels again came to the rescue with a brave block.
Forest needed a second goal to give themselves some breathing space and Nikola Milenkovic headed over before Ola Aina failed to make proper contact when the ball fell kindly to him on the penalty area.
Spurs pushed for an equaliser, but Forest put in a defensive performance Spurs could only dream of as central pairing Murillo and Milenkovic won all of their headers and made all of their tackles.
The visitors ended with 10 men as former Forest right-back Spence was dismissed deep into injury time for two yellow cards.
Southampton 0 West Ham 1 (Bowen 59)
Jarrod Bowen struck a 59th-minute winner for West Ham to consign new Southampton head coach Ivan Juric to a 1-0 defeat in his first match in charge.
Former Torino boss Juric had watched Sunday’s goalless draw at Fulham from the stand to give renewed hope to the Premier League’s bottom club, but they suffered a 14th defeat of the campaign to remain eight points from safety.
It was not all good news for opposite number Julen Lopetegui after he watched Hammers’ goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski suffer a nasty first-half blow, which saw him leave the pitch on a stretcher after 36 minutes.
VAR was required at the start of the second period after Guido Rodriguez had a red card downgraded to a yellow before Bowen grabbed his sixth goal of the season to extend West Ham’s unbeaten run to four matches.
Juric’s first big call was to drop Saints starlet Tyler Dibling and hand only a second start of the season to forward Paul Onuachu.
West Ham welcomed back Carlos Soler but lost Lucas Paqueta to suspension, and the former almost put them ahead in the fourth minute.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka ended a lung-bursting run with a fine cross for Soler, who smashed the ball against the crossbar before Rodriguez’s follow-up strike was deflected away from goal.
It was a let-off for sluggish Southampton, but they quickly improved and Onuachu headed wide after Kyle Walker-Peters impressively kept in a cross by fellow wing-back Yuki Sugawara.
More fine play resulted in Adam Armstrong being able to pick out Mateus Fernandes, but his low header was saved by Fabianski.
West Ham’s Max Kilman was brought off soon after due to a shoulder issue before Fabianski thwarted Walker-Peters’ weak effort and then produced an even better save to deny Onuachu after 25 minutes.
Walker-Peters dug out a cross and Onuachu’s header back across goal was superbly clawed away by Fabianski, who unfortunately exited proceedings not long after.
Fabianski was caught late by Nathan Wood from a corner and after seven minutes of medical attention left the pitch to a standing ovation in the 36th minute.
The lengthy stoppage took the sting out of the contest until Wan-Bissaka volleyed wide after an excellent run by Mohammed Kudus and Onuachu then had another header saved deep into 10 minutes added on at the end of the first half.
Saints thought their cause was boosted in the 51st minute when Rodriguez was shown a red card.
He caught Walker-Peters late but a VAR check told referee Lewis Smith to review the incident on the pitchside monitor and he downgraded his original decision to a yellow card.
Things went from bad to worse for Southampton a minute before the hour mark as West Ham took the lead.
It started with a miscued pass by Sugawara gifting the Hammers a corner. After they kept the ball alive from the set-piece, a cross by Edson Alvarez was headed back across goal by Tomas Soucek and flicked on by Niclas Fullkrug, which allowed Bowen to poke home.
Sugawara was immediately hooked by Juric before Onuachu had soft penalty appeals waved away after a shove by Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Fernandes dragged wide for Saints shortly afterwards and Juric turned to Dibling with 17 minutes left.
Adam Lallana was also introduced but Dibling could only curl over from 20 yards in stoppage time as Southampton lost again.
Bournemouth 0 Crystal Palace 0
High-flying Bournemouth stretched their unbeaten run to six Premier League games but had to settle for a point after being held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace.
Having amassed 13 points from the last 15 available following Sunday’s thumping 3-0 win away to Manchester United, the Cherries were unable to break down a Palace side hammered 5-1 by Arsenal at the weekend.
Oliver Glasner’s side had their fair share of the limited clear opportunities of an even Vitality Stadium stalemate as they made it four top-flight away games without defeat.
Bournemouth drop to sixth – below Newcastle on goal difference – after failing to score for the first time in 11 matches, dating back to a 1-0 loss at Leicester on October 5th.
Eberechi Eze returned to Palace’s starting XI as part of a trio of changes after Saturday’s thrashing by the Gunners, while the recalled Lewis Cook captained a Cherries team showing three alterations following an impressive victory at Old Trafford.
Jean-Philippe Mateta dragged an early effort wide and Eagles team-mates Ismaila Sarr and Daniel Munoz each fired straight at Kepa Arrizabalaga during a forgettable opening to the contest.
At the other end, Dango Ouattara flashed a shot across goal, while Sarr blocked an Antoine Semenyo effort close to the goal line following Cook’s corner.
Palace forward Sarr, who scored three times in his last two top-flight outings, calmly slotted past Kepa in the 27th minute but was clearly offside when he was slipped through by former Bournemouth midfielder Jefferson Lerma.
Cherries goalkeeper Kepa pushed away Eze’s powerful effort from distance at the start of the second half as the visitors initially remained the greater threat in front of goal.
With time ticking away, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola brought on club-record signing Evanilson in place of Enes Unal with 28 minutes remaining in a bid to inject life into his hosts.
Semenyo flashed dangerously across the face of goal and Ouattara nodded over before Evanilson drilled wide following a poor headed clearance by Palace defender Maxence Lacroix.
Bournemouth continued to have the better of the second-half chances but, despite a lively cameo from substitute Philip Billing, never seriously tested Eagles keeper Dean Henderson.
The Cherries will bid to return to winning ways at Fulham on Sunday, while Palace host bottom club Southampton on the same afternoon seeking to edge further clear of the relegation zone.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
