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*Jordan Ayew’s superb second-half goal earned Premier League bottom club Aston Villa a point at Newcastle.*

Ayew drove into the top corner from inside the area to cancel out Fabricio Coloccini’s close-range opener.

Both sides had chances to win in the closing stages, with Newcastle striker Georginio Wijnaldum and Villa’s Rudy Gestede having shots saved.

Villa, without a Premier League win since the opening game of the season, remain 10 points from safety.

Until recently, Newcastle boss Steve McCLaren had looked in danger of losing his job after failing oversee a win any of his first eight Premier League games.

However, back-to-back victories against Liverpool and Tottenham lifted Newcastle out of the relegation zone and three points on Saturday would have moved them five points clear of danger.

Key to Newcastle’s upturn in form has been a switch to a more counterattacking style of football, but a sodden pitch, coupled with Aston Villa’s defensive approach, meant was ineffective against Aston Villa.

They struggled to break Villa down for long periods, with their opener coming from a defensive lapse in concentration from a corner, as Coloccini was left unmarked.

However, when Villa pushed forward after equalising, it played to Newcastle’s strengths and they twice went close to snatching victory on the break, with Wijnaldum’s and Ayoze Perez’s finishing letting them down.

Newcastle remain one place above the relegation zone, but the draw means they are three points clear of Swansea in 18th.

No Premier League team with as few points as Aston Villa at this stage of the season have stayed up, and they would certainly need an impressive upturn in form to rescue their situation.

Villa have kept just two clean sheets in their 17 league games this season and the ease with which Newcastle scored, with Siem De Jong’s corner cutting through the defence, will be of concern for manager Remi Garde.

However, their second half performance will give the Frenchman some hope.

In Ayew, they have a striker who is finding his form in the Premier League. He had gone seven games without scoring at the start of the season but, having been employed in a more central role recently, he has scored four goals in his last eight games.