Papiss Cisse marked his debut with the winner and Demba Ba was also on target as Newcastle saw off Aston Villa 2-1 at St James' Park.
Senegalese strike duo do the damage for Magpies
Papiss Cisse marked his debut with the winner and Demba Ba was also on target as Newcastle saw off Aston Villa 2-1 at St James' Park.
The hosts edged in front on the half-hour mark as Ba, making his first start since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, bundled home from close range after Villa failed to clear their lines.
A lengthy stoppage followed his opener, as Ryan Taylor was injured in the build-up to the opener, and the delay played into Villa's hands as they levelled in the fifth minute of time added on at the end of the first half.
Former Magpies winger Charles N'Zogbia did well to work a yard from himself down the left and his fizzed delivery across the face of goal was converted by Robbie Keane.
Newcastle looked the more likely to find a winner in the second half and it duly arrived on 71 minutes as Cisse controlled the ball on his chest and lashed high into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Determined
Newcastle ran out determined to reclaim the fifth place into which they had climbed as a result of Wednesday night's hard-fought victory at Blackburn.
Villa lost the corresponding fixture last season 6-0, and they returned in determined mood this time around.
Darren Bent may not have enjoyed the best of fortunes on his visits to Tyneside with former club Sunderland - his reception was entirely predictable - although he might have silenced the boo boys within 13 minutes.
Keane's pass put him in behind full-back Danny Simpson and Tim Krul did well to save from a tight angle before fielding Stiliyan Petrov's well-struck follow-up less than comfortably.
In the meantime, Leon Best had left the field having been hurt in a block tackle with Stephen Warnock and was replaced by Cisse, who arrived to rapturous applause.
The newcomer tested Shay Given with a flicked 16th-minute header, but it was the visitors who continued to enjoy the better of the half with Bent once again denied by Krul after being played in by central defender Richard Dunne.
However, the first goal eventually arrived, against the run of play, at the other end, and the identity of the scorer was no surprise.
Medics
Dunne got up well to head Danny Guthrie's cross away from Ba, but when Taylor smashed the ball back across goal, the former West Ham frontman thumped it past Given to claim his 16th goal of the season.
But as the celebrations broke out, the medics rushed on to the pitch to tend to Taylor, who had been hurt in a collision with Warnock in the build-up and left the field on a stretcher with his right leg in a brace.
N'Zogbia fired into the side-netting and Stephen Ireland curled an effort just wide as Villa continued their quest for an equaliser.
However, Ba, full-back Davide Santon and Cisse might all have increased Newcastle's lead in a flurry of activity at the end of the half.
But the game's second goal eventually went the way of the visitors in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Keane met N'Zogbia's cross unopposed in front of goal to volley home.
Villa boss Alex McLeish replaced Ireland with Barry Bannan at the break, but saw his side almost concede the lead for a second time within two minutes of the restart.
Given, who played with such distinction for Newcastle over 11-and-a-half years, uncharacteristically fumbled after Guthrie had crossed, but neither Ba nor Cisse were able to take advantage.
Open
The game was becoming increasingly open with N'Zogbia for the visitors and Taylor's replacement Gabriel Obertan for the home side enjoying acres of space.
The former Manchester United man worked his way into a promising position with 55 minutes gone when he isolated Dunne and created space to shoot, but he sliced his effort well wide.
Cisse's first big chance arrived with 62 minutes gone when Guthrie clipped the ball invitingly towards him, but the striker could only lift his header over the bar.
Villa eventually responded and, as N'Zogbia made way for Emile Heskey, briefly relieved the pressure.
However, Newcastle regained their lead with 19 minutes remaining, and did so in style.
Jonas Gutierrez's left-wing cross was too high for Ba, but it fell nicely for Cisse to control with his chest before dispatching a left-foot volley high to Given's right.
James Perch drilled a long-range effort just wide and Given had to turn away another Cisse volley, but Krul managed to beat away Ciaran Clark's missile before gratefully grasping substitute Gary Gardner's point-blank header to preserve his side's lead.
| Newcastle United |
Team Statistics |
Aston Villa |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 8 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 4 |
Corners |
4 |
| 6 |
Fouls |
11 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 71.5 |
Passing Success |
74.6 |
| 24 |
Tackles |
39 |
| 79.2 |
Tackles Success |
46.2 |
| 51 |
Possession |
49 |
| 51.2 |
Territorial Advantage |
48.8 |
| 435 |
Total Passes |
425 |
| 29 |
Total Crosses |
22 |
| 215 |
Lost Balls |
199 |
| 78 |
Recoveries |
76 |
| 52.9 |
1st Half Poss. |
47.1 |
| 48.1 |
2nd Half Poss. |
51.9 |
|
