Vibrant Villa crush Newcastle to close in on top five

BIRMINGHAM, England :Aston Villa thumped top-five rivals Newcastle United 4-1 at Villa Park to keep themselves in the thick of the race for Champions League qualification on Saturday.

Five days after being knocked out of Europe's top club competition by Paris St Germain in a thriller, Villa returned to Premier League action in emphatic fashion with the recalled Ollie Watkins opening the scoring inside the first minute.

Fabian Schar equalised for third-placed Newcastle with a header before halftime but Villa blazed clear after the break with Ian Maatsen restoring their lead before a Dan Burn own goal and substitute Amadou Onana's superb finish sealed the points.

Victory lifted Villa three points above Chelsea into sixth place with 57 points from 33 games, level with Nottingham Forest who play at Tottenham Hotspur on Monday.

Newcastle have 59 points, one more than fourth-placed Manchester City, in what is turning into a fierce battle to qualify for next season's Champions League.

The top five in the Premier League will all qualify.

Newcastle had won five successive Premier League games and the League Cup final but were brought crashing back down to earth by a superb Villa side who could have scored far more.

Watkins was twice denied by the woodwork in the first half as the England forward produced a dazzling display, including a second-half assist for Maatsen, having been left out of the starting line-up in recent games.

"I think the manager's got a little bit of a headache now because I'm banging on his door saying why am I not playing," Watkins, who had was a substitute in both legs of Aston Villa's clash with PSG, told Sky Sports.

Unai Emery's Villa go to Manchester City on Tuesday when victory would send them into the top four.