Newcastle 3-0 Aston Villa

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Newcastle welcomed Aston Villa to St James' Park on Boxing Day in great form but wary of last year's Chris Wood Christmas hangover hat-trick.

However, after 82 seconds it was clear that the recent good form was showing no signs of abating, Gordon cutting in from the left and lifting a beautiful finessed shot over Emi Martinez and into the top corner.

We were on top and borderline electric in the opening exchanges, though just as Villa were growing into the game, Jhon Duran was sent off for prioritising the laws of physics over the laws of the game.

As he chased Schar down he was tackled, and with Schar on the ground and momentum carrying Duran forward, he landed with his left foot on Schar's hip, rolling his ankle, then planted his right food studs down in Schar's derriere.

After a moment's thought, Anthony Taylor brandished the red, and it was never going to be overturned by VAR.

Newcastle regained the positive momentum but didn't double their lead until the 59th minute, Alex Isak netting his 11th in 11 games following a sublime build up leading to a simple Murphy cross across the box.

From there it was total dominance, with Isak having a goal disallowed for offside (very quickly given - I'd like to see where they drew the line given he looked level with the keeper's arm to me), Murphy winning crossbar challenge with a left footed volley from 8 yards out in front of an open goal, and then Bruno having a comedy goal disallowed.

The ball was smashed into his elbow from a few yards away and bounced into the net via a defender, which surely should have seen the goal stand as the last touch wasn't Bruno's.

There was still time for Joelinton to add some squirty cream to the cherry on top of the icing on the cake, picking up an awful, lazy ball from a Villa defender and striding to the edge of the box to curl a beauty in, thus making this the first time we've ever won three consecutive Premier League games by at least three goals.

After a faultless festive sequence that's seen us back to our absolute best, we've now got the chance to send 2024 packing in the best possible style by piling more misery on Man United in their leaky hovel.

Saying that, it'll take more than 14 goals in 4 games to make me confident of predicting a win at Old Trafford.

Let's just celebrate what this team has achieved in the last month, turning around a season that was drifting alarmingly.