Aston Villa moved back into the top half of the Premier League thanks to a comfortable 2-0 victory over a lacklustre Newcastle at Villa Park
Dean Smith, who was serving a one-game touchline ban for clashing with the officials during his side's defeat at Manchester City on Wednesday, would have been delighted with what he saw from the stands as his side eased into a two-goal lead in the first half
Ollie Watkins (13) ended a run of nine games without a goal to head past Karl Darlow before Bertrand Traore's superb finish extended the hosts advantage (42)
The visitors did welcome back Allan Saint-Maximin in the second half after more than two months on the sidelines with coronavirus, but a fightback never materialised as Villa eased to all three points
Villa are now up to eighth and find themselves five points behind fourth-placed Liverpool with two games still in hand
Meanwhile, defeat ramps up the pressure on Newcastle boss Steve Bruce, whose side are seven points above the relegation places and without a win in 10 games in all competitions
There were warning signs early on for Newcastle as Darlow kept out Matt Targett's powerful long-range effort from the edge of the penalty area before a cross from the left-back was just out of the reach of Watkins at the near post
However, it was another Targett cross that set up the opener
 Fabian Schar could only slice an attempted clearance as the ball looped up in the air and Watkins reacted quickest, getting there ahead of Darlow to bravely head home
Newcastle weren't having much joy, but Tyrone Mings did have to be in the right place to block Jamaal Lascelles' goalbound header before getting his body in the way of an Andy Carroll header
However, Villa soon got back to dominating proceedings as Watkins saw a smart finish correctly ruled out for offside
The hosts then doubled their lead just before half-time
 Traore started and finished the move, picking out Jack Grealish down the left side before continuing his run into the box to latch onto an inch-perfect cutback and steering the ball in off the underside of the crossbar
There was another big let-off for Newcastle at the start of the second half
 Darlow's block denied Watkins, but Jamal Lewis handed the ball straight back to Douglas Luiz, who could only strike wide with the goal at his mercy
Bruce threw on Saint-Maximin and Ryan Fraser as they searched for a way back into the match, but they failed to lay a glove on Villa, who almost extended their advantage through Ross Barkley's improvised flick
Grealish then curled a shot wide as a third goal proved elusive, but Villa comfortably saw out the match to get back to winning ways
fears for Newcastle's long-term future under the ownership of Mike Ashley and feels Steve Bruce's side are drifting into another relegation fight following their latest poor performance
"I mentioned how impressed I have been with Aston Villa, not just tonight but all season," said the  pundit
"It's the complete opposite with Newcastle
 It just feels like a club that's nothing at this moment, just sleep-walking into another relegation dog fight
"Twice they have gone down under Mike Ashley
 At this moment they have a bit of a gap between them and Fulham
 There is still a long way to go but I would say Fulham and West Brom are in much better form than Newcastle
"So poor yet again
 You never feel like they are going to score a goal
 You never feel like they are going to keep a clean sheet
"There's no doubt the supporters don't like the team, they don't like the owner, they don't like the manager
 Steve Bruce is getting criticism at the moment
 He's the manager and the buck stops with him but until Newcastle get new ownership, we are going to be seeing the same thing
"A team who are just drifting, doing nothing, becoming a nothing club and that's what Newcastle have never been
 There's always been some sort of spark, some sort of interest, some sort of enthusiasm when you watch them play
"Now it's just boring
"Aston Villa boss : "I thought we were good especially in the first half
 We overplayed a little in the second half and could have scored a couple more
 I'm really pleased for Ollie Watkins; it always weighs on a forward's mind and it was nice to get an early goal for himself
Really pleased, solid performance at 2-0 and another clean sheet at home
"We have had three tough away games and we only got one point, there were some debatable decisions in the Manchester games but today we did well
"Newcastle boss : "Unfortunately we've gifted them a goal and after that it was difficult
 There were large parts of it I was pleased about
 Certainly, the addition of Allan Saint-Maximin and Ryan Fraser
 I have seen enough to be encouraged
 Yes, we have to accept defeat but there was enough there to work on
"That is always the difficult part of the Premier League and we understand that, we have found it difficult to score a goal, but I was encouraged, especially when those two got on the pitch
 I have seen enough in the squad, having them two back and then a couple more
 we are not as injury ravaged
 The big players in the team who can score and create a goal for us are getting back
"We are not alone, there are other teams in difficult runs, it is how we handle it
 Keep working hard and that is the only way you will change it
"': "You see some strikers when they're not scoring, the confidence drains out of them
 You didn't know watching him today that he hadn't scored for so long
 Sometimes there are players staring right at you in the lower leagues that are good enough for that chance
 He's excellent
" "He works really hard and carries a goal threat
 If you look at Callum Wilson he never looked like getting a goal today
 But Watkins never stopped working
 I thought his performance was very, very good
""I feel like it has been a long time coming
 I have been getting into the right areas, it has been frustrating
 As a striker you always want to score goals
 I have been unlucky and thankfully it went in today
 I kept my eye on the ball and the next thing I knew it was in the back of the net
"We have been unlucky, played against a few good sides but we are back to winning ways
 Second half we were sloppy and if we concentrated a little bit more, we could have punished them for three or four
"The goals will always come if I keep going in the box, it came off a defender's shin tonight and fell for me
"Next up for Aston Villa is a trip to Turf Moor on Wednesday to face Burnley; kick-off 6pm
Meanwhile
 Newcastle are back in action on Tuesday when they host Leeds at St James' Park; kick-off 6pm