Newcastle United’s Fabian Schar, left lays on the pitch after being fouled by Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran leading to a red card, during the English Premier League soccer match between Newcastle United and Aston Villa at St. James’ Park, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran was sent off during the first half of his side's 3-0 loss to Newcastle United on Boxing Day, after VAR intervention

Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran was shown a red card for violent conduct following a VAR check in the first half of the Premier League clash against Newcastle

"We stuck together as a team, tried to do as good as we could and I'm proud of the team for showing that mentality." "We've just got to try to be better - myself first - just try to get as many points as we can.

Jhon Duran has proven Unai Emery's doubts correct after he was sent off for Aston Villa against Newcastle on Thursday afternoon.

Disappointing from Unai Emery after Newcastle 3 Aston Villa 0. The Villa boss choosing to try and blame the referee after his team were outclassed by Newcastle United. United led inside 90 seconds and Villa never looked like getting back into it.

Richard: The annoying thing is that the sending off will dominate the headlines but the overall performance from Newcastle was excellent. Sandro Tonali is worth the ticket price on his own. Our very own Andrea Pirlo! A joy to watch him conduct the orchestra. It's no coincidence that our current good form coincides with Tonali's form.

Manchester City and Everton kick off the Boxing Day schedule in the Premier League. Four months ago, this would have been ripe for a festive feast of goals as City looked to cement their place at the top of the table.