Ben Arfa rescues point for Newcastle

Hatem Ben Arfa got Newcastle out of jail with a stunning equaliser as Aston Villa saw victory snatched from their grasp as the match ended 1-1.

The France international blasted an unstoppable long-range shot past keeper Brad Guzan with 59 minutes gone to cancel out Ciaran Clark's first-half opener on a day when the Magpies were all at sea for long periods.

Villa more than made a game of it with Tim Krul having to produce good saves to deny Darren Bent and Andreas Weimann, although Guzan hacked a 29th-minute Papiss Cisse shot off the line and claw out Yohan Cabaye's injury-time free-kick in an eventful contest.