There were two worrying prospects as we approached Sunday’s showdown at St James’ Park. The first was that it’s a venue where Villa tend to get gubbed. The second concerned Xformerlytwitter rumours of an injury to Morgan Rogers, because it’s equally true that where Villa injuries are concerned, rumour invariably becomes fact.

Fortunately this one was quickly stuck in the same bin as 99.9% of transfer speculation but it was still with some trepidation that the team was scanned before kick-off. There were naturally a few changes from Thursday’s expedition but while these were expected we also had the returning Leon Bailey on the bench along with a rare sighting of Harvey Elliott.

It seemed like business as usual with the best keeper in the world having to make one of his miracle saves in the opening seconds but then after Ollie Watkins had seen a chance almost as equally well-saved Emiliano Buendia began one move with a lovely pass and finished it just as brilliantly with a dipping shot from twenty yards.

If Martinez’s stop at the beginning of the first half was world-class the one just before half-time was even better as he somehow kept out a header that seemed to have gone past him. Newcastle had another couple of chances although the Villa keeper didn’t have to do much because both were off target while Watkins’ long-range shot was well saved.

Leon Bailey came on after an hour and while he was a long way from his best he also showed more than he has done too often in his Villa career. Maybe the realisation that this is his last chance with the best team he’ll ever play in will see more of the performances he’s capable of. We also got another fifteen minutes of Tyrone Mings, while Youri Tielemans went off injured – the one predictable thing that did happen.

It was looking good for a comfortable one-nil then in the closing stages Rogers’ sweeping ball found Lucas Digne. An inch-perfect cross was met by the oncoming Ollie Watkins and that was three points guaranteed. The rest of the weekend’s results were as good as we could have hoped for and that’s another set of fixtures out of the way with the gap between Villa and the non-Champions League places remaining in double figures.

Not only was this a vital, and deserved, win but it was also perhaps the most important of the season to date. There have been bigger results but they were against teams we knew we could beat on our day whereas this one was at a ground where the previous time Villa had beaten eleven men was in the last century. It came after a demoralising defeat at home, what looks like another lengthy injury to a vital player, the departure of an important squad member and a long journey back from a tension-filled European trip.