Half time: Tykes 0 Magpies 0

49 mins Matt Ritchie's corner in front of the North Stand that housed the travelling contingent was met by defender Adam Jackson - who barged over Ciaran Clark in the area as the ball dropped back to earth.

Running free, it was helped on by Hayden and Diame swung a boot at it under pressure from an opponent before Dwight Gayle finished from close range. 1-0

68 mins Ritchie released Dwight Gayle and the in-form number 9 bore down on goal before finishing smartly from just outside of the box as Davies rushed out to meet him. 2-0

Full time: Tykes 0 Magpies 2

Rafa Benitez commented:

Tykes boss Paul Heckingbottom said:

"We worked our socks off, went toe-to-toe with the top of the league and two lapses in concentration cost us the game and they gave us absolutely nothing.

"Dwight Gayle was the difference and that's what they paid all that money for.

"On another day we might have got something from the game. It was much better tonight, but we've got to keep improving and aim higher."

About Adam Hammill after substituting (to the evident displeasure of the player):

"It's not about him, it's a team game. Showing a lack of respect to his team-mates is not on. He is frustrated, but I had a big problem with him not showing the lads respect."
 

Diame's diet: a Barnsley chop and a slice.... 

Dwight Gayle fired Newcastle to the top of the Championship on Tuesday night, as his purple patch continued with two second half goals at Oakwell. 

After a scoreless first half, the league's leading scorer struck for the tenth and eleventh time of the season, making it seven goals in his last four outings.

The three points earned put United in pole position for the first time, leapfrogging previous leaders Norwich City after they threw away a 2-0 lead at Craven Cottage and were held 2-2 by Fulham.

Having scored before half-time in their previous five away matches, the interval was reached with little in the way of goalmouth action to reward a vast and enthusiastic away support. 

Restored to the starting lineup along with Momo Diame and Isaac Hayden, Matt Ritchie sprinted down the United right on 23 minutes before whipping in a cross that Dwight Gayle connected with but flicked wide.

That proved to the main scoring chance of the first 45 minutes, although phantom fouls given against Ciaran Clark and Jamaal Lascelles (ludicrously booked) gave Barnsley shooting opportunities from two well-placed free kicks around our box. They wasted both.

Emerging unchanged for the second half when a swap of Diame for Aleksander Mitrovic had looked possible to overcome our lack of aerial prowess, it took just four minutes for United to go ahead - Gayle in the right place to turn the home and prompt an outburst of joy behind the goal.

That quickened the tempo significantly and Mo Diame almost doubled the lead when turning well in the box, only to floated his effort narrowly over the crossbar. Gayle then made sure of the points after 68 minutes, taking Ritchie's forward pass and lobbing the 'keeper to start the dancing again.

A second hat-trick of the season almost arrived with five minutes left, but Davies was equal to Gayle's diving header at the near post from Jonjo Shelvey's cross.

That's now four wins in a row for Rafa's side and our fifth away victory - making it six games on the road without defeat since the opening day loss at Fulham. Like the win over Brentford, this wasn't a complete performance, although our dominance and control was more apparent than on Saturday. 

When the team does periodically click though and instinctively engineer creative passages of play, then the opposition are little more than spectators.

An unchanged back five collected a clean sheet with no fuss; Paul Dummett putting in a good, uncomplicated shift, Vurnon Anita underlining his quality and Jamaal Lascelles continuing to mature on and off the field - speaking calmly and eloquently after full time.

Clark also impressed again, improving week by week and happy to push forward when an opportunity presents itself, swapping roles with the steady Hayden.

Up front a slight frustration with Ritchie shying away from shooting continues, while Christian Atsu wasn't on long enough to gauge whether he's found his crossing range after Saturday's randomness. 

The displays of Yoan Gouffran and Diame were on a par with each other; evident effort but mixed returns. Where Gouffran seems unruffled however by a poor challenge or a misplaced pass, Diame is labouring to make an impact and needs the boost of netting a first goal - no matter how it goes in.

The combined talents of messrs Perez, Mitrovic and Diame haven't amounted to a great deal thus far and with one eye on the future, January may see some developments in the transfer market. 

While Gayle is in this sort of scoring form though, Rafa has the luxury of mixing and matching those around him - confident that there's enough talent on the pitch to continue collecting points in multiples of three.  

Championship table:

Biffa