Newcastle United are trailing 1-0 to Aston Villa at half time thanks to a 22nd-minute header from Ciaran Clark.
The visitors looked dangerous on the counter-attack in the opening stages, with Darren Bent a constant threat.
They took a deserved lead in the 22nd minute when Clark headed home a menacing cross from Barry Bannan.
Newcastle came close to an equaliser on 31 minutes through Papiss Cisse, who pounced on a loose ball and forced a top-drawer save from Villa keeper Brad Guzan.
Things continued to go downhill for the Magpies when Danny Simpson hobbled off injured, forcing Alan Pardew to reshuffled the pack.
The hosts saw plenty of the ball in the final third, but were unable to capitalise on their pressure and go into the break a goal down.
