ASTON VILLA 0 NEWCASTLE UNITED 0

NEWCASTLE UNITED’S hopes of avoiding relegation were dealt a potentially fatal blow as they were unable to beat Premier League basement boys Aston Villa.

With Sunderland having claimed a 3-2 win over Chelsea at the Stadium of Light, Newcastle’s goalless draw means they are now a point behind their North-East rivals in the table.

Sunderland play their game in hand when they host Everton on Wednesday night, and if they win, Newcastle will be relegated before the final game of the season.

Indeed, with Newcastle’s goal difference so markedly inferior to Sunderland’s, their only hope of survival is to beat Tottenham on the final day and hope the Black Cats pick up just one point from their remaining two games.

Seven years after their last relegation to the Championship was sealed by a 1-0 defeat at Villa Park, Newcastle’s failure to win on the same ground might well have condemned them to the second tier once more.

Their away form has been wretched throughout the second half of the season, and while second-half substitute Aleksandar Mitrovic came close with a couple of headers, they never really looked like breaking down a Villa defence that has been shipping goals left, right and centre this season.

Having clambered out of the bottom three last weekend, it was no surprise to see Rafael Benitez stick with the same starting line-up that secured the crucial 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.

Aston Villa’s relegation was confirmed weeks ago, and with today’s game marking Villa’s final home appearance as a Premier League club for at least 12 months, there was a strange atmosphere throughout.

A large number of Villa’s players were booed by their own supporters as they warmed up, and the jeering continued as their names were announced over the tannoy.

The home fans had brought a large number of inflatable beach balls with them, and as was the case at Middlesbrough’s game at Charlton earlier in the season, the game was stopped on a number of occasions in the opening stages in order to clear the field.

The stop-start nature of the opening quarter-of-an-hour seemed to affect both sides, with neither team able to exert any sort of control before the break.

Newcastle dominated possession, but rarely threatened to do anything with it; Aston Villa’s players showed plenty of commitment despite their position at the foot of the table, but possessed very little quality.

As a result, the opening 45 minutes were an unattractive stalemate with Newcastle only managing to create two half-chances.

The first came to nothing when Papiss Cisse narrowly failed to get on to the end of Andros Townsend’s dangerous ball into the box, and while the second at least resulted in Newcastle’s first shot on target, Cisse’s first-time volley from Vurnon Anita’s cross was directed straight at Mark Bunn.

Aston Villa’s only first-half effort was a long-range strike from Ciaran Clark that flew well wide, with Chancel Mbemba controlling things at the heart of the Newcastle back four with a minimum of fuss.

With Sunderland trailing at the half-time break of their game with Chelsea, Newcastle kicked off the second half knowing a goal could have a massive effect on the relegation picture. It almost arrived within 45 seconds of the restart.

Townsend crossed from the right, and while Cisse scuffed his initial effort, the ball broke kindly for Jack Colback close to the penalty spot. The midfielder had scored Newcastle’s equaliser at Anfield, but was unable to replicate his goalscoring effort as he blazed wildly over the crossbar.

Cisse’s miskick was just about his final act, with Benitez displaying commendable boldness as he replaced the Senegal international with Mitrovic within seven minutes of the restart.

Mitrovic’s physical attributes asked some different questions of Villa’s five-man defence, but the Serbian wasted a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock shortly after the hour mark.

Townsend’s free-kick was cleared out of the area, but Cheick Tiote chipped a near ball back into the box. Mitrovic beat the offside trap to break clear, but with Bunn off his line, the Newcastle striker lobbed the ball onto the roof of the net.

Newcastle were a much more threatening proposition in the second half, and Benitez added to his side’s attacking options by sacrificing Tiote in order to bring on Ayoze Perez.

The visitors tested Bunn again shortly after, but the Villa goalkeeper was equal to Georginio Wijnaldum’s effort from Townsend’s pull back.

With Sunderland having turned things around at the Stadium of Light to lead 3-2, it was suddenly essential that Newcastle made a breakthrough, but while Mitrovic rose well at the back post to meet Paul Dummett’s left-wing cross, his header floated wide of the far post.

Nine minutes later, and Mitrovic was meeting another cross, this time from Mbemba, but again the substitute failed to find the target as his header sailed over.

Aston Villa (5-3-2): Bunn; Hutton, Bacuna, Clark, Lescott, Toner; Westwood, Sanchez, Gana; Sinclair (Hepburn-Murphy 90), Ayew.

Subs (not used): Guzan (gk), Richards, Adama, Gil, Lyden, Grealish.

Newcastle (4-2-3-1): Darlow; Janmaat, Mbemba, Lascelles, Dummett; Tiote (Perez 67), Colback (de Jong 90); Townsend, Wijnaldum, Sissoko; Cisse (Mitrovic 52).

Subs (not used): Woodman (gk), Janmaat, Taylor, Shelvey.