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Aston Villa ended a run of three successive Premier League defeats as they beat Newcastle United to ruin Steve Bruce’s return to Villa Park.
Conor Hourihane’s curled free-kick gave Villa the lead before his enticing set-piece set up Anwar El Ghazi to finish from close range four minutes later.
Bruce, sacked as Villa boss in October 2018, saw his side denied by goalkeeper Tom Heaton, who saved from Federico Fernandez and Allan Saint-Maximin.
The win takes Villa up to 15th place.
Newcastle would have moved up to ninth with a win, but the defeat keeps them 14th, one point ahead of Villa.
Newcastle undone by free-kicks
Newcastle paid the price for some defensive indiscipline as they conceded twice from needless free-kicks just after the half-hour mark.
A two-handed push right on the edge of the penalty area from DeAndre Yedlin on Jack Grealish, who had got the wrong side of the Newcastle right-back, led to the opener.
Hourihane nudged the stationary ball to Grealish, who stopped it and, from the better angle, the Republic of Ireland midfielder curled the ball around the wall and into the net.
The lively Grealish, back after missing three games because of a calf injury, saw a fine run crudely ended when he was brought down by a clumsy Federico Fernandez challenge, again just outside the 18-yard box.
This time Hourihane – back in the Villa side after being an unused substitute in the loss to Wolves – was the provider as his excellent delivery was steered in by El Ghazi.
The Netherlands winger thought he had got Villa’s third before half-time, but he had mis-timed his run onto a John McGinn pass that meant he was adjudged offside after putting the ball into the net.
Grealish was a constant threat with his dribbling ability and came close to getting the goal he deserved but curled over the top from 15 yards after neat link-up play with El Ghazi.
Wesley should have added a third in the 77th-minute but failed to beat Martin Dubravka from close range as Villa, who had been beaten in successive Premier League matches by Manchester City, Liverpool and Wolves, gained the three points.
An unhappy return to Villa Park for Bruce
This was Bruce’s first game on the touchline at Villa Park since he was sacked by the club just over a year ago, when they were in the Championship.
He had a two-year spell in charge and nearly took them into the Premier League – losing in the play-off final in May 2018 – but lost his job after a poor run of results that saw a section of the fans turn against him.
Before Monday’s game Bruce described his final days as Villa’s boss as “one of the most unsavoury times of my career”, which culminated with a fan throwing a cabbage at him in his last match in charge.
But there was to be no happy return to Villa Park as Newcastle conceded two first-half goals and were denied a way back into the match by a fine performance by Heaton.
The England keeper held a Jonjo Shelvey free-kick when it was goalless and then produced an excellent reaction stop to push Fernandez’s header over the bar at the end of the first half.
Heaton again played a vital role just after the break, with a good save low down to his left to keep out a well-struck effort from Allan Saint-Maximin and was well placed to deny Isaac Hayden.
Bruce, who received a polite if unenthusiastic reaction from the Villa fans before the match, brought on striker Andy Carroll in an attempt to get back in the game and the former England striker did well to volley on the turn, but his effort was straight at Heaton.
Dwight Gayle also came on for the ineffective Joelinton but could not make an impact on the game in a disappointing evening for Bruce and Newcastle.
More to follow.
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