Newcastle United have always had a tendency to lurch from delight to despair at whirlwind speed, but after four successive victories and this hugely impressive performance against Aston Villa, they are a team on the charge rather than in a spin.

The club are always at their most dangerous when they harness the positive energy of their supporters and they have emerged from a difficult, inconsistent autumn with upward momentum and renewed optimism.

Eddie Howe’s side had slipped down to 12th after a 4-2 defeat at Brentford, which was the nadir of a run of just two league wins in 11, at the start of the month. There had been talk of a project stagnating on Tyneside. But as he has always done, Howe remained calm as the pressure swirled around him and worked on solutions rather than excuses.

This victory lifted his side up to fifth, they have scored 14 goals in four games and are within striking distance of the top four once more.

Villa are dangerous opponents and, like Newcastle, have emerged as a genuine threat to English football’s established order. These two are the great disruptors of the Premier League, but Villa were frustrated, brushed aside and eventually crushed.

Newcastle scored three goals, had another three ruled out for various infringements and also hit the crossbar. This could have been a far bigger hammering for Unai Emery’s side.

The Spaniard turned down the Newcastle job three years ago, before accepting the Villa one. He has now lost three on the spin to the manager Newcastle turned to instead. On this evidence, Howe has his number.

Emery looked and sounded rattled throughout. He screamed and shouted at his players from the moment Anthony Gordon gave Newcastle the lead after 80 seconds and then turned his anger on the opposition’s assistant manager Jason Tindall, obscenities and spittle flying into the air as he repeatedly gesticulated in the direction of the home team bench.

Howe got involved briefly but walked away. Tindall stayed to return fire. The arguments spilled over in the tunnel, an angry altercation leading to a red card for Tindall, who watched the second half from the stands.

Howe defended his long time confidant after the game, insisting there were plenty of others who could have been shown a red card following the melee involving multiple players and staff from both teams. “We are always going to defend ourselves and each other in those situations,” Howe said. “I will leave you to work out what that means …”

As dramatic as this may sound, this is Newcastle getting back to what they once did best under Howe. They get under the skin of the opposition, physically and mentally. They are a rough, tough side and they are incredibly hard to stop in this sort of for,. Villa could not resist the pressure and Jhon Duran could not keep his emotions under control.

The Colombian had been exchanging terse words with Emery after he appeared to pull out of a tackle. He had also moaned and complained to his teammates about the lack of service to him, when he narrowly lost a foot race with centre back Fabian Schar, who cleared the danger with a sliding tackle.

Duran was off balance, but he did not need to bring his left boot down on the back of Schar – replays showed he could have put it on the grass rather than the Newcastle player – and then caught him again with his right as well. One boot might be deemed an accident, but the second one probably condemned him.

Newcastle’s players were furious. Referee Anthony Taylor took his time and then showed a straight red card. It seemed the correct call for those of us who had seen it live and none of the replays seen by the VAR officials proved otherwise. Emery has said Villa will appeal regardless and claimed his anger towards the Newcastle bench was provoked by that harsh and incorrect decision.

In truth, this was probably a useful distraction for Emery. Villa’s away form has been a worry all season and this was a fifth successive league defeat on the road, a miserable run stretching back to October.

They were already trailing when Duran saw red and they were comprehensively outplayed after his dismissal as Newcastle launched attack after attack. Newcastle’s midfield trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and Sandro Tonali has a lovely blend of power, athleticism and guile and it has been at the core of the team’s resurgence.

Alexander Isak scored his 11th goal in 12 games, tapping in a Jacob Murphy cross and after seeing two goals ruled out by VAR, as well as hitting the crossbar, Joelinton finally made it three in stoppage time.

“We are shooting for whatever we can shoot for,” said Howe when asked if his team were Champions League contenders again. “I’m extremely heartened by the way the team is playing, the confidence has come back and you can see that out on the pitch. We have built up some momentum since the Brentford defeat, which was a low moment for us. I’ve been delighted with the response.”