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Having produced remarkable results, performances and goals on various occasions this season, the visit of the champions-elect to Tyneside unfortunately found Alan Pardew and his players slightly short-handed on the miracles front at the umpteenth time of asking.

And on a day when a piece of individual brilliance looked like the only thing that would separate the two sides, it was the long-sleeved tugging, African Nations Cup underachieving, teetotaler belonging to City rather than our own scoring superstar who ultimately decided the destination of the points. 

Nigel De Jong's 61st minute arrival was greeted with a tirade of booing prompted by the substitute's leg-breaking challenge on Hatem Ben Arfa back in October 2010. However the Dutchman's crucial contribution today was to step in to Yaya Toure's holding midfield role and allow Cheick Tiote's international team mate to push forward - with devastating consequences.....  

And once ahead, City went in search of a clinching second goal - while Newcastle redoubled their attacking efforts and replaced Ben Arfa with Shola Ameobi, the Frenchman having come closest to netting for his side with efforts in each half but otherwise struggled to make his mark on the game.

In a further attempt to force an equaliser, Pardew introduced Shane Ferguson on the left, moved Jonas Gutierrez at left back and relocated Davide Santon to the opposite flank. Tiote was then also dispensed with - before a likely second yellow - and Ryan Taylor appeared, tasked with dropping the ball on the edge of the City box whenever possible.

It was to no avail though and from a lightning counter-attack, Toure netted his second goal - with Hart then denying Demba Ba what would have been a prized strike to end his lengthening barren spell. 

The final whistle then brought gleeful celebrations from the visiting bench, who poured on to the pitch to greet their players. Meanwhile, an obviously downcast home crowd quickly began to applaud both the victors and the vanquished, most staying in their places to give Newcastle an ovation as they embarked upon a lap of the stadium. 

We may have broken our winless league sequence against Chelsea in midweek, but dreams of ending a similar streak against City never really looked like becoming a reality and coach Willie Donachie was en route from the Directors Box after barely 10 minutes to deliver observations on his former side. 

That's not to say that this was in any way one-sided and an element of nerves was evident in the City ranks, with a few over-hit passes and dialogue between players and coaching staff as to who was marking who. The trademark "Poznan" celebrations meanwhile were missing from the away end - perhaps realising that it's unwise to take your eyes off the pitch when Cisse & Co. are around.... 

However, more of the heart-stopping moments came in the home box and our inability to make the ball stick up front made the pressure on us almost constant. It does seem slightly disloyal to be saying that when our front pair have spent much of the season sticking the ball in the goal, but it does remain the principal reason for Shola's substitute cameos and arguably one of the root causes of the rapid sequences of conceding goals on occasion.

With Arsenal and Spurs both drawing this weekend, the race for Champions League places won't be resolved until the final day but Newcastle now need to win at Goodison and rely on positive outcomes in the Spurs versus Fulham and West Bromwich Albion against Arsenal games. 

To be even looking at permutations like that at this point of the season is both refreshing and unexpected and although United lost this game, a vague mood of disappointment was the over-riding feeling rather than the "glad it's all over" mindset we've experienced far too often. 

That "we're not really here" cobblers City come out with has seemed appropriate when looking at our place in the league table recently, but a look at where we got our points from this season reinforces the fact that we're here on merit. There's a certain satisfaction in knowing that the only team to do the double over us is the one reaching out to collect the Premier League trophy and assembled at unprecedented expense. 

And regardless of what the official result will be, picking our goal of the season from the highlights DVD promises to be a thankless task - we've barely scored a rotten goal since a certain man's over the wall effort at the dark place got us up and running last August.  

Alan Pardew may talk of the fans driving on the players, but if today didn't whet the owner's appetite for more of this then we're all knackered. Adding cut price season ticket deals to his previous portfolio of cheap sportswear has gone down well, but the rising satisfaction levels (and diminishing grief levels) will always depend on what is served up on the pitch - something worth remembering when things aren't going quite as swimmingly.

As ever, the experience of watching this lot leads inevitably to thoughts of whatever disaster and misfortune awaits us and whether we receive more "once in a lifetime" offers of the Carroll variety. 

Even curmudgeonly buggers like us though remain mildly astonished by what has unfolded before our eyes, from signing two separate striking saviours to having a defence that can defend and justifying the conviction of Chris Hughton that James Perch was indeed a Premier League footballer. 

The glass is half-full, on a table outside a bar somewhere in Europe - and it's your round. Cheers! 

Biffa