Villa begin Lerner era in style

The Randy Lerner era at Aston Villa got off to a successful start as goals from Luke Moore and Juan Pablo Angel lifted Martin O'Neill's side into second spot in the Premiership.

Villa made sure of victory with Angel's second goal of the campaign before half-time to move within two points of leaders Manchester United and ahead of Everton on alphabetical order.

To add to Villa's joy, new skipper Gareth Barry signed a four-year contract before kick-off which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2010.

But Newcastle's misery in losing their 12-game unbeaten run was compounded when new signing Obafemi Martins was carried off on a stretcher after the interval with what looked like a knee injury.

Moore gave Villa the ideal start after Barry was brought down by Newcastle midfielder Scott Parker.

The Magpies failed to deal with his floated free-kick from midway in the Newcastle half.

The ball eventually broke to Moore on the edge of the box and he steadied himself before planting a low drive past Shay Given into the corner of the net.

It was the first goal of the campaign for Moore, who is playing with a shoulder problem.

Former Villa player Nolberto Solano was booed every time he touched the ball but he nearly set up a equaliser for James Milner who had spent last season on loan at Villa Park.

Solano's corner found its way to Milner at the far post but after turning sharply he was unable to keep down his shot, which flew over Thomas Sorensen's crossbar.

Barry became the first player to be yellow-carded for a challenge on Damien Duff and Emre followed him into the book for shoving Gavin McCann.

Newcastle enjoyed more than their share of possession and Damien Duff was not far off target with a 20-yard drive from the left of the Villa area.

But after 38 minutes a clinical piece of finishing by Angel - his second goal of the campaign - doubled Villa's lead.

The Colombian international timed his run perfectly to seize onto a pass from Gabriel Agbonlahor and get in behind Titus Bramble before slotting the ball into the corner of the net.

Newcastle had a rare effort on target from Duff but his 20-yard drive was comfortably dealt with by Sorensen.

Magpies boss Glenn Roeder opted for a double half-time substitution, bringing on Albert Luque and Charles N'Zogbia replacing Solano and Celestine Babayaro respectively.

Sorensen went down to cling onto a low drive from Duff after Martins had found him in plenty of space to the left of the Villa area.

But the home side retaliated and a floated pass from Barry picked out the run of Angel only for his touch to let him down and enable Titus Bramble to make a vital interception.

Roeder made his third substitution after 56 minutes, Nicky Butt taking over from Emre in midfield, but the visitors found themselves having to play the final half hour with 10 men.

Martins, signed for #10million in midweek from Inter Milan, landed awkwardly after an aerial challenge with Liam Ridgewell and he was clutching his knee before being carried off.

That effectively signalled the end of Newcastle's challenge and in injury-time Moore came close to grabbing a second goal when his cross-shot hit the bar.