There is a reason why Aston Villa were so desperate to hijack Johan Manzambi's proposed summer move from Freiburg to Newcastle. The tall, quick, tricky, clever and perfectly balanced 21-year-old Switzerland attacking midfielder looked worth every penny of the record £50m plus fee Villa ended up paying and he duly delighted in showing Tynesiders what they missed.

For Newcastle and their disconsolate manager, Matthias Jaissle, there was a cruel irony that Manzambi ended up heading the winner on a day when the Premier League's CEO, Richard Masters, was in the directors' box to watch arguably the two teams most affected by the spending rules imposed during his tenure.

Those regulations have turned Unai Emery into a master of reinvention at Aston Villa but, in the league at least, the Spaniard's latest rebuild has been slow to click cleanly into place. On the evidence of their fourth win in five games in all competitions, that just might be changing.

While Villa kicked off having won only once in the league this season, Newcastle sought redemption after last Monday night's chastening 4-1 defeat at Coventry.

Emery, who changed his mind about taking charge of Newcastle before Eddie Howe took the job, said: "It was a tough match but it was very important to win after our poor start. But we set a high standard."

Jaissle, whose team are level on points with Villa but faces an appreciably tougher reconstruction project, was left to reflect on his "frustration" and blamed his young team's decision making. But Newcastle's manager was also sanguine. "Big names left the club in the summer so for sure, we knew it would be challenging," he said. "That's not an excuse, we have to learn fast."

There has always been a certain edge between these teams and Jarred Gillett issued two first-half yellow cards in quick succession. First Joelinton lunged in, two-footed, on Manzambi and then Sven Botman was guilty of another reckless challenge, two-footed and over the ball, on the dangerous Nicolas Jackson.

A video assistant referee check ensued but, after lengthy deliberation, it was decided the original decision was correct and Botman's yellow did not require upgrading to a red. The Newcastle centre-half was probably a little fortunate. "It was so high it nearly broke my leg," said Jackson. "But I'm OK; it's part of football."

Joelinton, meanwhile, has now been booked in each of the two games he has been involved in since returning from injury as a substitute at Coventry. Plus ça change.

The elegantly impressive Manzambi, seemingly electrically powered, exerted the best sort of revenge on the Brazilian when he gave Emery's side the lead. That goal arrived in the 36th minute and involved an unmarked Manzambi – a creator brilliant at drifting into space – ghosting away from Malick Thiaw before meeting João Gomes's splendid cross with a tremendous header.

Newcastle suddenly looked extremely vulnerable but they were reprieved when Emiliano Buendía's shot rebounded off the inside of a post and deflected off Lukas Hornicek's back before eventually being cleared by Lewis Hall. Once again, Hall was Jaissle's best player.

It was all too easy to see why Newcastle have now gone 13 Premier League home games without a clean sheet, equalling an unwanted record set in 1998-99.

Jaissle's frustration surfaced itself as he exchanged words with Emery after an altercation involving Alysson and Hornicek and subsequently looked suitably downcast as his side were booed off at half-time.

Those home fans were not relishing the sight of Villa's forward repeatedly accelerating behind the sometimes dangerously high home backline.

Zion Suzuki had been rather underemployed but a goalkeeper briefly courted by Newcastle in the summer opened the second half by making a superlative flying save to keep Botman's high velocity strike out. It was Newcastle's sole shot on target.

The Villa substitute Ross Barkley almost showed Jaissle's players how to do it when he would have scored with his first touch had Hornicek not dived smartly to turn his blistering shot around a post.

Although Newcastle's manager sent Dan Burn on for the closing minutes – as a striker – nothing was going to come between Emery and his 100th Premier League win.