Newcastle United 1-1 Aston Villa

Aston Villa have now drawn three and lost three of their last six Premier League games

Jordan Ayew's superb second-half goal earned Premier League bottom club Aston Villa a point at Newcastle.

Ayew drove into the top corner from inside the area to cancel out Fabricio Coloccini's close-range opener.

Both sides had chances to win in the closing stages, with Newcastle striker Georginio Wijnaldum and Villa's Rudy Gestede having shots saved.

Villa, without a Premier League win since the opening game of the season, remain 10 points from safety.

Relive Newcastle's game with Aston Villa

Results and reaction from Saturday's Premier League football

Newcastle revival?

Until recently, Newcastle boss Steve McCLaren had looked in danger of losing his job after failing oversee a win any of his first eight Premier League games.

However, back-to-back victories against Liverpool and Tottenham lifted Newcastle out of the relegation zone and three points on Saturday would have moved them five points clear of danger.

Key to Newcastle's upturn in form has been a switch to a more counterattacking style of football, but a sodden pitch, coupled with Aston Villa's defensive approach, meant was ineffective against Aston Villa.

They struggled to break Villa down for long periods, with their opener coming from a defensive lapse in concentration from a corner, as Coloccini was left unmarked.

However, when Villa pushed forward after equalising, it played to Newcastle's strengths and they twice went close to snatching victory on the break, with Wijnaldum's and Ayoze Perez's finishing letting them down.

Newcastle remain one place above the relegation zone, but the draw means they are three points clear of Swansea in 18th.

Green shoots of promise for Villa

Aston Villa's heatmap highlights their attacking improvement in the second half. In the first half (graphic on the left) they had just four touches of the ball in the Newcastle area. In the second half (graphic on the right) they had 17 touches in the box

No Premier League team with as few points as Aston Villa at this stage of the season have stayed up, and they would certainly need an impressive upturn in form to rescue their situation.

Villa have kept just two clean sheets in their 17 league games this season and the ease with which Newcastle scored, with Siem De Jong's corner cutting through the defence, will be of concern for manager Remi Garde.

However, their second half performance will give the Frenchman some hope.

In Ayew, they have a striker who is finding his form in the Premier League. He had gone seven games without scoring at the start of the season but, having been employed in a more central role recently, he has scored four goals in his last eight games.

Man of the match - Jordan Ayew

Aston Villa's Jordan Ayew had two shots on target, scoring from one of them, and played one key pass against Newcastle

What the managers said

Newcastle head coach Steve McClaren: "The conditions were horrendous. Get the ball wide and get the ball in the box - it was a game for width.

"Anybody can beat anybody in the league. I said before the match this was a dangerous game. Regarding us, a settled side has helped the momentum. We might not win every game but we've made huge steps forward."

Aston Villa manager Remi Garde: "We didn't play well at all in the first 45 minutes. We were out of the game in terms of impact and intensity. If you are in the position we are in it's difficult for the player to get in the game straight away.

"There's a lack of confidence. It's better to react late then not to react. The fact we got back in the game could be very important. Newcastle have won the last two games, but in the second half we showed we are not far away from this type of team."

The stats you need to know

• Fabricio Coloccini scored his first Premier League goal since November 2014 and his first at St James' Park since January 2011 against Spurs.

• Newcastle have dropped 12 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season; more than any other side.

• Newcastle are unbeaten in three Premier League games (W2 D1) - the first time they've managed to go three league games without defeat since February 2015 (W1 D2).

• Aston Villa will be bottom of the Premier League at Xmas - just three of the previous 23 teams to be bottom of the competition on Christmas Day have stayed up.

• However, the team that were bottom of the Premier League on Xmas Day in each of the last two seasons have managed to avoid relegation that campaign (Leicester 2014-15 and Sunderland in 2013-14).

What next?

Newcastle host Everton on Boxing Day while Aston Villa host West Ham on the same day.