rewrite this title Aston Villa 1-3 Newcastle United: Tonali leads FA Cup turnaround after Bizot red card – Soccer News

Sandro Tonali scored twice as Newcastle United took advantage of Marco Bizot’s red card to defeat Aston Villa 3-1 in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Eddie Howe’s side were on their way out when Tammy Abraham scored his first goal since returning to Villa from Besiktas last month, but the momentum turned when Bizot was sent off for a last-man foul, with all three of the visitors’ goals coming in the second half.

VAR is not in use until the fifth round of this season’s FA Cup, and that was to Villa’s benefit in the 14th minute as Abraham – who looked to be offside from Douglas Luiz’s clever free-kick – took the ball down on his chest and beat Aaron Ramsdale on the swivel.

Leon Bailey then sent a free header wide and Luiz rifled a long-range effort over the crossbar, but Villa lost control of the game in first-half stoppage time.

Shortly after Lucas Digne avoided a red card for a late challenge on Jacob Murphy, the latter was released by Harvey Barnes’ hoisted pass, and Bizot came 40 yards off his line to recklessly scythe him down.

With Bailey sacrificed for substitute goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, Villa came under pressure early in the second half and were fortunate that Digne did not concede a penalty for handling Kieran Trippier’s cross.

But their resistance was broken by Tonali’s deflected strike in the 63rd minute from that resulting free-kick, and the Italian completed the turnaround when he lasered an effort into the bottom-left corner with 14 minutes to play.

Newcastle made certain of the result when Birthday boy Nick Woltemade finished high into the roof of the net in the 88th minute, after Pau Torres inadvertently played the ball into his path.

Happy birthday, Nick Woltemade

A goal the icing on the cake tonight https://t.co/tutt8yxPwr pic.twitter.com/LvMobCuRZT

— Newcastle United (@NUFC) February 14, 2026

Data Debrief: Bizot’s red card costly as Tonali fires from range

Bizot’s senseless foul on Murphy changed this tie, as he became the first goalkeeper to be sent off in the FA Cup proper this season, and the first Villa player dismissed in the competition since Leander Dendoncker versus Stevenage in January 2023.

To illustrate the way the game turned, Villa led the expected goals (xG) battle by 0.72 to 0.29 at half-time. By full-time, it was 1.31 xG to 0.77 xG, in Newcastle’s favour.

If Bizot was the villain, Tonali was the hero, as he became the first Newcastle player to score two goals from outside the box in a single game since October 2016. On that occasion, Mohamed Diame netted twice from range in an EFL Cup game against Preston North End.

Martinez, meanwhile, has conceded multiple goals from outside the box in back-to-back FA Cup appearances, also doing so against Crystal Palace in last season’s semi-finals.