NEWCASTLE, England -- — Skipper Jamaal Lascelles rescued Newcastle at the death when he equalized in injury time to deny Aston Villa victory and rekindled hope of English Premier League survival on Friday.

Lascelles powered home a last-gasp header to snatch a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park just as it looked as though Ollie Watkins’ 86th-minute effort, which looped in off unfortunate former Villa defender Ciaran Clark, plunged them deeper into the mire.

Magpies coach Steve Bruce might have been left bemoaning his luck had his captain not intervened after substitute Jacob Murphy hit the crossbar minutes earlier. While his side has won only twice in 19 games in all competitions, it sits two points clear of the drop zone with 10 fixtures to play.

Aston Villa remained ninth.

On a night when he and counterpart coach Dean Smith might ordinarily have hoped the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin or Jack Grealish might have lit up the contest, it failed to ignite in their absence until the closing stages.

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