Match officials in the VAR hub agreed with referee Anthony Taylor's decision to send off Jhon Duran for an apparent stamp on Newcastle United defender Fabian Schar during the Premier League match on Thursday afternoon.

It was the dream start for Eddie Howe's side at St James' Park as Anthony Gordon fired the hosts in front after 90 seconds. The Magpies continued to dominate and things then derailed even further for Villa as they were reduced to 10 men.

Duran had an opportunity to counter but was beaten to the ball by Schar. The Villa forward barged into the defender and they both fell to the ground, with Duran appearing is stamp on Schar as he landed.

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The incident prompted an immediate reaction from the Newcastle players, with goalkeeper Martin Dubravka one of the first to the scene. After some deliberation with his assistants, Taylor showed Duran a red card for the challenge.

The Premier League soon released a statement explaining the reasoning for the decision not to overturn the on-field call. Writing on its Match Centre account on X (formerly Twitter), it said: The referee issued a red card to Duran for violent conduct. The VAR checked and confirmed the referee’s call."

Newcastle had a couple of opportunities to extend their lead before half time, including a goal from midfielder Bruno Guimaraes that was ruled out for offside.

In the first half, Villa had just three attempts on goal, only one of which was on target. The hosts, on the other hand, mustered up nine attempts and four of those were on target.