Our second away win this week and another one we thoroughly deserved, as we overcame Unai Emery’s Aston Villa and some truly awful refereeing to advance to the last 16 of the FA Cup.

Sandro Tonali sparked the comeback with a second-half brace, then Nick Woltemade rounded off the scoring to secure a 3-1 win for Eddie Howe’s Mags.

Here are our marks out of 10 and comments on each Newcastle player involved at Villa Park last night.

Starting 11

Ramsdale (6.5) – Can feel hard done by to not keep a clean sheet as Abraham was a good yard offside. Had very little to do, making just one save. A few decent claims, but otherwise a quiet night. 

Trippier (7) – One hiccup aside, when he nearly let Watkins through on goal. this was another assured performance from the skipper. Handled his defensive duties well and was much more threatening in possession.

Thiaw (6.5) – Shaky start to the game as he conceded the foul that led to the goal and followed that up with a yellow card. Looked much better after half time against the ten men of Villa.

Burn (8) – Towering performance back in his favoured left centre back position. Was left fuming as standards dropped on a couple of occasions and wasn’t shy about letting his teammates know. Claimed an assist for the second goal.

Hall (7) – Restored to the line up after a rest against Spurs, Hall performed well in front of Thomas Tuchel to put himself firmly in contention for the left back position leading into the World Cup. Was unlucky to see a wonderful through ball come unstuck by Elanga slipping over.

Tonali (9*) – With Bruno ruled out for 8-10 weeks we needed our midfield maestro to step up and that’s exactly what he did. Scored his first two goals of the season to ensure we’re in the hat for the last 16, his second goal an absolute howitzer from 25 yards. Talismanic.

Ramsey (7) – Seemed to enjoy playing against his former teammates and put in another encouraging performance. Quietly goes about his business with his positional awareness and positive passing a real standout feature. Timing his upturn in form well.

J Murphy (5) – Made the run that led to the red card for Bizot but that was the lone highlight on a desperately poor showing from Murphy. Widely known that his strength is in his crossing, but when that isn’t working he offers very little else in an attacking sense.

Woltemade (8) – The birthday boy was deployed in his more natural number ten role and showcased some great hold up and link up play throughout. Topped off an encouraging performance with the third goal. 

Barnes (6) – Was busy without being at his clinical best. Seemed to fatigue as the game wore on, but has enough credit in the bank to keep his place for the game against Qarabag.

Osula (5) – Given a big opportunity to impress up front but flattered to deceive. Ran around a lot but failed to offer anything in possession aside from one pass to Barnes which led to a good opportunity. One shot that went out for a throw in was his only real sight of goal. 

Substitutes 

Gordon (6) – Came very close to giving us the lead as his shot was narrowly deflected wide by Pau Torres. Could find himself deployed as a centre forward for the Qarabag game.

Elanga (6) – Lost possession on a few occasions but added some much needed pace and directness down the right. Made one run in behind but slipped just as he got through on goal! Feels like his combination with Trippier is starting to develop nicely.

Willock (NR) – Replaced Ramsey for the last 10 minutes.

A Murphy (NR) – Replaced Trippier in the closing stages after we went 3-1 up.