Martins magic boosts Magpies

Obafemi Martins scored both goals as Newcastle beat Aston Villa 2-0 to climb off the foot of the Premier League table.

Newcastle beat Villa 2-0 to climb table

Obafemi Martins scored both goals as Newcastle beat Aston Villa 2-0 to climb off the foot of the Premier League table. Aston Villa created the best opportunities in a lively but goalless first half as Martin Laursen struck the post with a header and Gabriel Agbonlahor completely missed the ball with the goal at his mercy. Newcastle always looked dangerous and broke the deadlock on the hour mark courtesy of an excellent Martins strike from outside the area. Nicky Butt then rattled the woodwork with a free-kick, before Martins tapped home from close range in the 83rd minute after a driving run by Jonas Gutierrez.

Competitive

Newcastle knew only their very best would see them emerge with all three points and that feeling was proved correct in a highly-competitive first 45 minutes. They got their warning with just 11 minutes gone when Villa captain Laursen glanced a Gareth Barry corner just wide of the outside of the post, and quite how Agbonlahor failed to convert former Magpie James Milner's 22nd-minute cross only he will know. But Kinnear's men had Shay Given, now fourth in the club's all-time appearance list, to thank for their share of the spoils at the break when he made a point-blank block to deny Ashley Young nine minutes before the break after Agbonlahor had played him in. However, Newcastle had chances - or more accurately, half-chances - of their own with Joey Barton, who had earlier been spoken to by referee Steve Bennett after a clash with Agbonlahor, forcing a good save from Brad Friedel with a long-distance effort, and Steven Taylor only just failing to connect with Habib Beye's 41st-minute cross in front of goal. Villa's pace on the break was a constant threat, as was the returning John Carew's ability to hold the ball up and play others in. But with the Magpies' rearguard just about holding firm, they returned with their hopes intact. Beye needed to be at his best to prevent Agbonlahor from turning Milner's cross home within two minutes of the restart as Villa assumed control in the early stages of the second half. Newcastle were increasingly stretched and Barton earned himself a booking with a late 53rd-minute challenge on Luke Young as he desperately tried to stem the tide.

Breakthrough

The game was starting to open up, and the opening goal arrived with 30 minutes remaining. Barton picked out Martins with his back to goal on the edge of the penalty area and he turned smartly before blasting a left-foot drive wide of Friedel's dive and into the bottom corner. The Magpies would have been significantly closer to victory seven minutes later had Nicky Butt's free-kick crept inside the post rather than clipped the outside of it. Butt volleyed just wide as the Magpies threatened to kill off the game but with midfielder Steve Sidwell having replaced full-back Nicky Shorey with 18 minutes remaining, the visitors started to make their final push. However, the game was effectively over eight minutes from time when Gutierrez capped a fine individual display with a high-octane run down the left and a cross which Martins gleefully blasted into the back of the net. Beye might have made sure in injury-time but the points were safe as Newcastle jumped six places to 14th.

Newcastle United	Team Statistics	Aston Villa
2	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
3	Shots on Target	1
6	Shots off Target	6
4	Blocked Shots	1
2	Corners	6
14	Fouls	22
1	Offsides	2
4	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0
73.8	Passing Success	71.1
25	Tackles	29
76	Tackles Success	69
57.6	Possession	42.4
53	Territorial Advantage	47