Carew hat-trick stuns Magpies
Carew's hat-trick helped Villa climb the table
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Saturday, 09, Feb 2008 03:56
A second-half hat-trick from John Carew helped Aston Villa come from a goal behind to beat Newcastle United 4-1 at Villa Park.
The Magpies remain winless in four Premier League matches under Kevin Keegan as Martin O'Neill's side put pressure on Everton, Liverpool and Manchester City in the race for fourth place.
Although Newcastle took the lead early in the match Villa dominated proceedings and the Magpies' eventual capitulation was inevitable.
Michael Owen grabbed a goal for Newcastle with just four minutes on the clock, deftly nodding James Milner's cross past Scott Carson at the near post, but it was all downhill from there.
Villa had a number of penalty appeals in the first 45 minutes and were unlucky not to get one. First the ball appeared to strike Joey Barton on the arm and minutes later the midfielder seemed to pull down Shaun Maloney but the referee waved away their claims.
The home side got reward for their endeavour at the start of the second half when Wilfred Bouma's 20-yard shot deflected off Habib Beye and past Shay Given to make it 1-1.
Not long after that Villa took the lead. Ashley Young provided Carew with an excellent cross and he nodded home.
The Norwegian made it 3-1 20 minutes later as Newcastle gifted him an easy tap-in. A number of defenders failed to clear before the ball fell to Carew two yards out.
In injury-time Magpies right-back Stephen Carr handled in the box and Carew duly smashed the ball home to complete his hat-trick.
The win was Villa's first in the league in four attempts following defeat to Fulham last week and draws with Liverpool and Blackburn.