U21s: Newcastle United 0-2 Aston Villa

Aston Villa Under-21s picked up a convincing win in their first game of 2023, seeing off Newcastle United in Premier League 2.

Josh Feeney drilled home the opening goal after 33 minutes as the visitors edged a hard-fought first half.

A flying start to the second period saw Declan Frith double their advantage with a smart finish on 49 minutes.

Oliwier Zych was on hand to secure the three points when he kept out Isaac Westendorf with a stunning save, preserving his clean sheet.

Villa began the night eighth in the table after three wins, three draws and four defeats from their first ten PL2 matches, with opponents Newcastle two points and two places better off.

With so little separating the sides in the table it was no surprise that there was nothing to choose between them on the pitch during the first 23 minutes, with only a wayward header from United striker Dylan Stephenson threatening the goal.

However, Villa’s first sight of goal produced the opener when Feeney showed great composure to pick out the top corner from close range after the ball fell at his feet following a scramble in the box.

Newcastle were struggling to cope with their opponent’s pace on the counter-attack, with Kadan Young, Chisom Afoka and Frith growing in stature as the half progressed.

But it was full-back Frankie Ealing whose surging run nearly produced their second goal. His pullback for Tommi O’Reilly was precise but the playmaker’s effort was smothered by a last-ditch block.

While the first half took a while to get going, the second got off to a flyer for Villa.

It was less than four minutes after the restart when Frith slammed home Revan’s cross to double their lead.

Aside from catching crosses and taking goal kicks, Zych had been a spectator in the Villa goal, but that all changed when Westendorf went clean through after 70 minutes.

The Newcastle substitute set himself and fired low but saw Zych produce a superb one-handed stop to parry his effort to safety.

Young, who was on the bench in the FA Cup yesterday, showed his class with a driving run that ended with a fierce shot, stinging the palms of goalkeeper Max Thompson.

Newcastle threw men forward in an attempt to get back into the game, but they encountered a resilient Villa backline that managed to shut them down and secure their shutout.