2mins Jonas Gutierrez came infield from the left and picked out Kevin Nolan's forward run, dropping the ball on the corner of the six yard for Nolan to beat stand-in 'keeper Darryl Flahavan at the Holmesdale Road End.  1-0

55mins Taking possession from Ameobi, Gutierrez played the ball infield again from roughly the same position as the first goal, Ryan Taylor this time taking a touch before steering the ball stylishly beyond the 'keeper from outside the area into the left hand corner of the goal. 2-0

Half time: Eagles 0 Magpies 2

Full time: Eagles 0 Magpies 2

Chris Hughton said:

"We knew it would be tough, certainly with the manager they have here and they play in a very efficient style. But I thought we were worthy winners.

"We are not far off. We have quality here. The decision the club have to make is whether it is enough to compete if we pick up a few injuries - there will be a time when we are stretched.

"I'm hoping we don't lose any more players but that is something that will only be determined over the next week. At this moment we are waiting for a decision to be made on whether the club is sold, or what will happen if the club is not sold.

"I'm very happy to be in this position and very happy to do this job for as long as I am asked to. It's not about me putting down a marker for the job, it's about winning games for this club and the players have responded."

They may have run out to the strains of the Dave Clark Five, but it was a case of the Merseybeats for Crystal Palace on Saturday at Selhurst Park, as first half goals from Scouse duo Kevin Nolan and Ryan Taylor maintained Newcastle's unbeaten start to the season.

Just two minutes were on the clock and the ball had barely been out of the Palace half, when Nolan stepped forward to net his first competitive Newcastle goal. And after Darren Ambrose tested Steve Harper, Nolan came close again with a header as United kept up the pressure.

Ryan Taylor soon also broke his United duck before Nolan almost stole a third, pushing forward to catch an unwary Palace defender in possession, but being unable to beat Flahavan this time.

The second half saw Newcastle's defence cope well with Palace's unsophisticated attempts to find a way back into the game, with Enrique and Coloccini impressive. Alan Smith also put in a decent shift, but looked fortunate to have avoided conceding a penalty after tussling with N'Diaye. 

Ameobi should really have made it three after a great move upfield, but he skied his shot after a great forward burst from midfielder Danny Guthrie. United however remained in control throughout the game, despite Palace pushing forward in the closing stages. 

Neil Warnock's side however lacked a good finisher - unlike one of their fans, who was dragged away by half the Met, after catching one of them with a haymaker....

The win left United joint top of the Championship on ten points, second on goal difference to the smoggies and ahead by the same measure from West Brom. However Cardiff's victory on Sunday (featuring yet another Michael Chopra goal) put them in pole position and pushed us back one.

That's still better than many folks feared before the start of the season, although a not insignificant part of our three game winning streak has been facing a trio of sides lacking a decent striker.

There's of course a strong case for arguing that our players who looked second-rate last season in the top league have now found their level, but that does ignore the evident collective spirit among the side currently that was so obviously missing when the chips were down last time round.

Having consistently slagged off the contribution of Jonas, mention must be made of his two assists here, although he did his best to keep out of trouble thereafter. It remains to be seen whether they are parting shots, but it was at least nice to see him exploit space and pick out passes, rather than attempt to beat the same opponent several times.

It's tempting to think that the removal of certain egotists and charlatans has purified the dressing room - although some still remain, for now. But while we've advocated the football equivalent of the Highland Clearances for the squad who took us down, that process has to be two-way.

Palace may have an FA-imposed transfer embargo affecting them currently, but ours is self-imposed. Borrowing a defender from a top flight club is faintly embarrassing, but symbolic of the type of urgent business required in our current situation, if further departures are to follow - especially in defensive positions.

When the transfer window closes after our next league outing, we'll have a minimum of nineteen games before further reinforcements can be brought in, regardless of who owns the club. 

It's all plain sailing at this point, but this looks like being the strongest we'll be all season. Thankfully we've got into a nice early habit of collecting points; we may be glad of them in a few weeks time.
 
Biffa