“Aston Villa, it’s happened again,” the St James’ crowd sang towards the end. Newcastle were physical, hostile and debated every decision, preying on the low foul threshold the referee set. In the first 28 minutes, before the sending-off, there were 11 fouls.

Newcastle United beat Aston Villa 3-0 on Boxing Day, but the game was overshadowed by a 20-man tunnel melee at St James' Park at half-time - where both sides' analysts were sent off

Richard: The annoying thing is that the sending off will dominate the headlines but the overall performance from Newcastle was excellent. Sandro Tonali is worth the ticket price on his own. Our very own Andrea Pirlo! A joy to watch him conduct the orchestra. It's no coincidence that our current good form coincides with Tonali's form.