A brilliant second half performance by Aston Villa heaped more pressure on Kevin Keegan as his side suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat in their Premiership encounter on Saturday.

A good first half performance saw Newcastle on course for its first victory under Kevin Keegan as Michael Owen scored his second goal in as many matches in the 4th minute. However Villa turned on the style in the second half as Wilfred Bouma equalized in the 48th minute and a hat trick by John Carew ensured a comfortable victory for Martin O'Neill's side.

The Magpies looked to have got off to a perfect start by taking an early lead in the 4th minute when Owen headed home James Milner's cross to score his second goal in two games. While Newcastle were still sloppy on occasions at the back, they looked threatening in the attack.

Villa's best chance of finding an equalizer came three minutes before half time when Carew turned his header towards the target but Given pulled off a good save to deny the Norwegian. Three minutes into the second half and Villa were back on level terms when Bouma found himself in space outside the Newcastle penalty box and released a low drive past Shay Given to score his first goal in over 76 matches.

The equalizer opened the floodgates for Villa who took the lead in the 51st minute when Carew headed home Young's corner. Carew doubled the lead in the 72nd minute when Newcastle failed to clear Maloney's shot and the Norwegian striker was left with a simplest of chance to grab his second of the night.

Carew completed his hat trick in the final minute of the match when Villa were given a penalty after Carr had handled the ball inside the area and the 28 year old made no mistake to score his first hat trick for his club.