Aston Villa continued their recent revival and stretched their unbeaten run to five games thanks to Johan Manzambi’s winning goal to defeat Newcastle United.
Switzerland midfielder Manzambi came close to joining the Magpies in the summer before moving to Villa Park instead, and showed Newcastle what they were missing when he headed in Joao Gomes’ cross in the 36th minute.
Emiliano Buendia nearly doubled Villa’s advantage but saw his strike bounce off the left post, with Lukas Hornicek well beaten.
Newcastle failed to register a shot on target in the first half, with the home fans booing them off at the break.
But Matthias Jaissle’s side made an instant improvement, with Harvey Barnes curling an inviting cross just wide inside the opening 40 seconds of the second half.
Sven Botman, who Villa thought should have been sent off for an over-the-ball challenge on Nicolas Jackson earlier on, hit a well-struck shot on the turn with away goalkeeper Zion Suzuki making a good save.
Villa came fourth in the Premier League last season, but only picked up one point from their opening four league games of 2026-27.
But they have now picked up seven points from their past three games, progressed in the Carabao Cup and recorded a 6-0 thrashing of Fenerbahce in the Champions League.
This victory takes Villa 12th, only behind 11th-placed Newcastle on goals scored.
For Newcastle and Jaissle it has been a tough week.
They were embarrassed 4-1 at Coventry City on Monday as the newly promoted side gained their first home win since returning to the Premier League.
Jaissle said he wanted to see a reaction from his side, but would have been left disappointed with a poor opening 45 minutes that left Suzuki untested in the away goal.
Indeed, Newcastle could have considered themselves fortunate to still have 11 men on the pitch after Botman slid in and caught Jackson, with the challenge going over the ball and catching the Senegal striker on the ankle.
On-pitch referee Jarred Gillett gave Botman a yellow card and it was reviewed by video assistant referee Stuart Attwell for dangerous play, but Botman escaped with just a booking.
In an interview immediately after the final whistle, Jackson said Botman’s challenge “nearly broke my leg” but that he “was OK” and it was “part of football”.
Botman was one of six Newcastle players to be booked, with Joelinton, captaining the Magpies for the first time in the Premier League, another player to see yellow.
Villa were good value for their lead at the break, but Newcastle, at least, did improve in the second half – although there were further boos at the final whistle.
Botman had scored a superb goal in the loss at Coventry and was only denied his second goal of the week by a fine save from Suzuki.
Yoane Wissa also headed over and fired another chance wide but the hosts could not force an equaliser.
It was Jaissle’s first home loss as Newcastle manager as the Magpies were beaten at St James’ Park for the first time since a 2-1 defeat by Bournemouth on 18 April.
Aston Villa analysis: Emery’s 100th Premier League win well deserved
The victory helped Aston Villa boss Unai Emery reach a landmark as it was his 100th in the Premier League.
The Spaniard would have been delighted with his side’s performance, especially as they had two days fewer than their opponents to prepare for this match, having played in the Champions League on Wednesday.
For the first time this season club captain John McGinn did not start a league match, although the Scotland midfielder did come on at the beginning of the second half.
Villa already had the lead by then, after being the better team in the first 45 minutes.
As well as the Manzambi goal and the Buendia effort off the woodwork, Jackson also had an effort saved by Hornicek, with Matty Cash later hitting the side-netting.
Manzambi, who turned 21 on Wednesday, has now scored three goals for Villa since joining Emery’s side in a club record deal of just over £50m from German side Freiburg.
Villa had opportunities to score a second goal, but substitute Ross Barkley drew a fine save from Hornicek and Ibrahim Mbaye shot wide after a fine run.
But they produced a strong defensive performance to restrict the hosts to one shot on target, to leave the north east with the three points.