St James´ stunner among my best goals – Ayew

Jordan Ayew rates his equalising goal in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Newcastle United among the best in his career and believes Aston Villa can build on their performance at St James’ Park.

The Premier League’s bottom club were staring down the barrel of a 13th defeat of the campaign when some slack defending at a corner allowed Fabricio Coloccini to bundle home the opener in the first half.

However, Villa earned a share of the spoils just after the hour mark when Ayew shook off Daryl Janmaat before hitting a thunderbolt of a shot into the left-hand corner.

Villa, who have been relegated from the top flight on the last two occasions they were bottom at Christmas, are 10 points off safety, but Ayew hopes an improved showing can provide the catalyst for an upturn in fortunes.

“I think this [the goal] is one of my best,” Ayew told Sky Sports after the game.

“Three points is better, but one point is better than nothing. We still have games, if we play like we did in the second half we’ll get some wins. When luck is not on your side it is difficult. We will continue to work hard.”

Newcastle could have made it three consecutive wins if they had beaten Villa, but captain Coloccini concedes that a point was a fair reflection of the game.

“Yes [a point is fair],” he said. “I think we played better in the first half. In  the the second half they had more situations than us. A draw I think is okay.

“I think after the last two weeks we had it was an important point. Seven points in nine is important for us.”