Mark Hughes:

"I think somebody mentioned over the weekend that Harry Kane is the only player who scores that type of goal, but that's an oversight on Peter Crouch who's been doing that for years. 

"It's a great ball from Geoff Cameron and a fantastic header. Peter has been unlucky in the last few weeks because he hasn't started games, but he's very much valued by myself and the club.

"When called upon, he will always have an impact on games for us. That's a credit to him as a professional.

"It's a big point for us because Newcastle are very close to us in the table. We would like to have won, but in the end you take what you can out of the game.

"We were throwing people forward and had to over-commit at times because we needed to get back into the game. It was a bit like a basketball game towards the end, but we expected that.

"The disappointment is that the referee wasn't brave enough to make the right decision at a key moment. He's been allowed to stay on the pitch and lo and behold he gets the goal that might have won the game.

"As it's panned out, we've thankfully shown great determination and not allowed that or the goal to affect us.

"You want key moments to be refereed with the right decision. Last year (here) we were certainly affected adversely with some of the decisions, and again we've been affected by a decision that hasn't been given.

"He's a good referee, but today some of his decisions left a little bit to be desired.

"I've been a manager for 15 years and never got an apology from referees… and so I don't think that's going to start now.

"I think we are playing with confidence. We are on a good run and have a group of players really embracing what we are trying to do. You need to be brave in possession and we are doing that.

"In terms of the game itself, we dominated possession. I thought we acquitted ourselves really well and were the dominant side in terms of possession and trying to probe.

"Newcastle came into the game on a high, but we restricted them to just a few counter-attacks and a couple of opportunities."
 

United only have themselves to blame though for failing to record back-to-back victories, Gabriel Obertan and Ayoze Perez both missing chances to double the lead in the closing ten minutes.

Some collective sleepwalking then saw the home side needlessly retreat in possession and invite pressure - oh for someone in the Shearer mould with the mental and physical prowess to close out a game properly. 

And there seemed merit in post-match moans from Stoke boss Mark Hughes that Colback shouldn't have been on the field to score, stand-in referee Kevin Friend failing to punish a tackle by the midfielder with a second yellow less than five minutes before he grabbed the opener.

Unchanged from the side that won 3-0 at Hull, Newcastle created the better chances during a tedious first half that was played under blue skies and in near silence.

Potters custodian Asmir Begovic instinctively blocked an eleventh minute header from Remy Cabella, also getting down well to block Sammy Ameobi's shot before the half hour. 

A Perez effort flew narrowly wide of the far post in the 43rd minute that came after an all-too rare piece of good build-up play to provide service for the sole striker.

Too often United struggled to stamp their authority in the final third of the field - wafting aimless balls towards Perez that were easily dealt with by a visiting defence lacking Ryan Shawcross. 

City left it until first half added time to test Krul, Mame Diouf directing his header on target only for the goalkeeper to spring to his left and palm it away.  

With no discernible change in the pattern of play and the visitors winning a series of corners, some urgency was injected by the arrival of Papiss Cisse and Obertan but United's well-worked opener was rather unexpected. 

Absent through injury since early November, Obertan's first major contribution was to steer the ball across the Stoke box towards an off-balance Sissoko, who was still able to lay the ball off for Colback to shoot home via an upright at the Gallowgate End with sixteen minutes left.

Seeking to respond quickly, an offside flag halted the celebrations of ex-Magpie loan flop Stephen Ireland after he curled home from the edge of the box on 77 minutes  - Obertan's poor judgment having set the Potters away.  

Then came United's crucial failure to put the game out of reach, not once but twice. First, Obertan took Sissoko's pass and raced into the box but incredibly tried to tee up the marked Sissoko rather than take the obvious shot or roll it in front of the unmarked and onside Cisse.

Within a minute, Perez then burst into the left hand side of the box, but opted to blast over the bar rather than roll the ball into the path of the waiting Sissoko.

That double let-off added renewed impetus to Stoke's efforts to find an equaliser and some criminally bad play then saw a jittery United back-pedal all the way down the field back towards their own box.

Williamson played a weak backpass that Krul only just got to first but his clearance under pressure wasn't great and Stoke immediately went on the attack.

The result was painfully predictable: Crouch beating Janmaat to a right wing centre from substitute Geoff Cameron to head back across past Krul and Fabricio Coloccini for a second goal against us this season.

Calamitous and avoidable in equal measure, that late blow was accepted by the team as meekly as those supporters looking on. Full time also brought little reaction from the stands, perhaps a realisation that this ordinary display hardly warranted victory.

Emotion-free and meaningless then, with unpleasant echoes of our average and uninvolved displays that characterized the closing months of last season. 

For those who didn't bother going today, you missed nowt. 

The point left Newcastle 11th in the table, a position that won't alter before they take to the field against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night. 

Defeat at Selhurst Park though would leave the Magpies just two points ahead of the Eagles who are managed by some diamond geezer called Pardew....it almost writes itself doesn't it?

Biffa