John Carew destroys Newcastle's chances

Michael Owen scored for the second weekend in succession - Fabio Capello please note - but his goal was rendered irrelevant by the first hat-trick of John Carew's career, which left Kevin Keegan and Newcastle in dire straits, without a win in their past nine games.

Keegan is not exclusively to blame for that barren sequence, having had only five matches in charge, but what a disappointment they have been for the Toon Army, who expected more from "Special K". Two points from four league fixtures and a 3-0 FA Cup defeat by Arsenal is not the revival they had in mind. Newcastle were poor and Keegan cut a helpless figure as things went from bad to worse.

Joey Barton gave Keegan something else to worry about. After 13 minutes Villa should have had a penalty when Barton handled a 20-yard shot from Gareth Barry, then appeared to tangle with Shaun Maloney, knocking him to the ground. This was only Barton's fourth match back in the side after being released on bail on an assault charge, having spent the New Year in custody. The Maloney incident was missed by the referee, but maybe not by the FA's observer, and Barton's conduct could bring an official backlash, which is the last thing Keegan needs just now.

Newcastle were talking about European qualification at the start of Keegan's "second coming", but if they are not careful, they could yet become embroiled in a relegation struggle. Keegan would not rule it out.

"All the away games we've got left are difficult ones, but I knew that when I took over," he said. "We've got enough ability to stay in the Premier League, but I'm under no illusions, we've got to get to 40 points before we're safe. We need our togetherness back. The club has become a bit fragmented and we're fragile."

Mike Ashley, Newcastle's Croesus-rich owner, who may come to regret ousting Sam Allardyce so quickly, stood among the fans in his black and white stripes, hands thrust into his pockets. Keegan would like to dig deep into them to sign Thierry Henry, but with the transfer window shut, it is no more than a pipedream. In any event, after conceding 10 goals in the past three away games the pressing need, as ever, is a reliable partnership at centre-back.

Villa, also in need of a restorative result after last week's defeat at Fulham, were full value for their emphatic success. After falling behind in the fourth minute, they hit back hard in the second half, demonstrating yet again their effectiveness at set plays. Martin O'Neill said: "To some extent, that takes away the memory of last Sunday [when Villa lost 2-1 at Craven Cottage]. We were excellent in the second half, and I've told John Carew he was absolutely fantastic."

The first 45 minutes were mundane in the extreme, bordering on the soporific, and if the Premier League try to sell anything similar to the Aussies, they will probably buy back Neighbours instead. Owen, intent on proving a point after sitting out England's midweek friendly, scored after only three minutes 40 seconds, the goal virtually a replica of the one with which he gave Newcastle the lead against Middlesbrough last week. Again he looked like a midget in the land of the giants as he went up in the penalty area to challenge for a cross by James Milner and got to the ball ahead of defenders six inches taller, nodding it in from seven yards. Capello was not present to see it, but two of his lieutenants, Franco Baldini and Stuart Pearce, were, and may well suggest to the England manager that Owen will always be more prolific than Wayne Rooney. For the rest of the first half, Newcastle were the better of two disjointed teams, neither able to find any cohesion.

The quality on show, or lack of it, can only have reinforced Baldini's poor opinion of the technical aspect of the game in this country. To paraphrase his comments after Wednesday's game: "Two passes and then you kick the ball in the air."

The second half was a major improvement. O'Neill sent on two substitutes, Craig Gardner and Marlon Harewood, and together they helped to provide the forward momentum Villa had lacked. The equaliser, in the 48th minute, was a strange-looking one, Wilfred Bouma's mishit shot from 20 yards bobbling towards goal and brushing Habib Beye before trickling in. Poor Shay Given slipped in going for it and injured his groin. Given's movement was clearly impaired two minutes later when Young's corner from the left was backheaded in by Carew, and the Newcastle goalkeeper immediately gave way to Steve Harper, who made back-to-back saves of high class to deny Gardner twice.

Another Young corner, another Villa goal. This time there was some harum-scarum stuff in the penalty area before Carew finally forced the ball home at close range. "Cheer up Kevin Keegan" chorused the gleeful Holte End, but his misery was not over yet.

In the last minute, Stephen Carr handled the ball overhead under pressure from Carew. The Norwegian was given the ball by regular penalty-taker Gareth Barry so he could complete his hat-trick. He duly belted home the spot-kick with a velocity that brooked no argument for the first hat-trick at Villa since Savo Milosevic's heyday in 1995. How Keegan would love to travel back to that era. Dream on - Newcastle play Manchester United next.

Match stats

Star man: John Carew (Aston Villa)

Player ratings: Aston Villa: Carson 6, Mellberg 5 (Gardner ht, 6), Davies 6, Laursen 6, Bouma 6, Petrov 5 (Harewood ht,6), Reo-Coker 6, Barry 6, Young 6 (Osbourne 90min), Carew 8, Maloney 5

Newcastle: Given 6 (Harper 54min, 6), Beye 5, Taylor 6, Cacapa 5, Carr 5, Milner 6, Barton 5 (Emre 74min), Butt 5, Smith 5, Owen 6

Yellow cards: Aston Villa: Carew, Reo-Coker

Newcastle: Butt

Referee: L Mason

Attendance: 42,640