Woy Hodgson said:
 
"It was a very important game; hard fought. I thought that I can be very, very proud of the team's performance. I thought that we dealt with the attacking threat that Newcastle most certainly have.

"They’re very good at crossing the ball and getting bodies in the box and competing for those crosses. I thought it was a sterling effort from our back four and our goalkeeper and the midfield players helping us out as well to make certain we kept a clean sheet today.

"On the counter-attack or even at the start of the game, not on the counter-attack, we looked quite dangerous. We were constantly threatening and looking like we might score the goal.

"Luckily for us once again Wilf Zaha came to the fore and did what he does so well: dribbling past people in the penalty area and provoking the foul which gives Milivojevic - who’s been quite exceptional at taking penalties and scoring them to give us the goal and the victory.

"I'm never confident to be honest! I've been so lucky with penalty takers: Dan Murphy at Fulham and now with Luka. So really and truly I should just be sitting back quite comfortably saying: ‘well, we’re 1-0 up’ but unfortunately because the goals are often match winning goals, 

"I think the only time (I will relax is) if ever we're winning by a three goal margin and we get a penalty and Luka's going to take it. Then I would definitely sit back and say: ‘right, that’s all over, we’re four-up’. Ask him his secret, he might not tell you..."

"My fence has been taken away from me - I've got nothing to sit on any more! Yes I think 39 points (will be enough) with our goal difference, I'd like to think that will see us over the line. It was hard-fought game and I'm pleased with the way we've handled it."

Newcastle's run of home victories came to an end at a chilly Gallowgate on Saturday, as a late Palace penalty proved decisive and left the hosts still looking for the victory that would ease lingering fears of relegation.

DeAndre Yedlin's needless foul on Wilfried Zaha gave Luka Milivojevic the chance to beat Martin Dubravka from the spot in the 81st minute in a game that United really should never have lost.

The result however was overshadowed by a serious injury to Florian Lejeune midway through the second half. The Frenchman returned to action in January following a pre-season injury to his right knee, but was stretchered off here with a problem on his other knee. 

He later exited from the ground on crutches with that knee in a brace, confirming later that his season was at an end with a similar injury to that previously sustained.

Although the incident itself looked relatively innocuous, Lejeune knew it was serious and signalled almost immediately after going down while colleagues waved for urgent medical assistance.

Meanwhile, the visitors disgracefully tried to gain an advantage with a quick throw-in right by the stricken player - an action made even more galling given their bellyaching earlier in the match at home players to kick the ball out when a Palace player was down, despite having neglected to do precisely that when in possession. 

The Lejeune incident came just as Newcastle were looking to increase the pressure and break the deadlock - something that never looked likely afterwards, as momentum was badly lost.

There were numerous chances for United to go in front in both halves but the bulk of those had come during the opening 45 minutes; Salomon Rondon's hesitation twice seeing shooting chances wasted and a great opportunity headed over. The Venezuelan had earlier shot home from close range when following in Matt Ritchie's effort, but was rightly ruled offside.

Ayoze Perez also had efforts saved and Yedlin hit a pile-driver narrowly over the top during the second period but too far many free-kicks, corners and crosses were tossed off, giving a nervous-looking Vicente Guaita in the Eagles' goal a comparatively untroubled afternoon.

A belated outing from the bench for Jonjo Shelvey did nothing to suggest that he should have started the game and following his non-appearance at Arsenal on Monday, his future now looks increasingly as if it will be away from Tyneside next season.  

And despite a lively display, Miguel Almiron failed to make any pivotal contribution to proceedings - although conspiracy theorists will have doubtless noted an exchange of passes with Ritchie.

Following Lejeune's departure, proceedings looked destined to emulate the scoreless stalemate at Selhurst last September until the brainless intervention of Yedlin. And despite the addition of seven minutes injury time, both the home team and crowd seemed to have written the game off.

With former Magpies Andros Townsend and Patrick van Aanholt in their side, Palace celebrated a first victory on Tyneside since 1998, but felt they should already have been ahead after James Tomkins swept home a low shot after a corner in the 42nd minute.

However the joy of the away team and fans (one of whom had detonated a smoke bomb) was cut short when referee Stuart Attwell and his linesman ruled that Martin Dubravka had been unsighted by James McArthur - in an offside position as the shot was made - and disallowed it.

Five games to play then and having failed to gain the victory that would surely have confirmed our top-flight status for another season, we remain in limboland: with a significant question mark over the manager's future and a lengthening list of players whose futures are anything but certain.

Given the form of Cardiff City and their forthcoming fixtures, they remain favourites to join Fulham and Huddersfield Town in the Championship next season. Doubts persist however among cynical souls like us, who saw our apparent safety melt away in 45 minutes at Villa Park a decade ago

Close isn't close enough and in addition to 2009, minds start wandering back to both 2013 and 2015 when it took until the penultimate game to ensure our safety (although we didn't know about the latter until after the Jonas Gutierrez heroics that beat West Ham on the final day).

Our survival simply needs to be confirmed as soon as possible, and then we can start worrying about everything else....and there's plenty to be concerned about.

PS: Away from Premier League this weekend, the FA Cup served up one instantly forgettable Semi-Final (Manchester City 1 Brighton 0) and one absolute classic (Watford 3 Wolves 2).

Putting aside the wry smile that Wolves conceding a 94th minute equaliser prompted from us, one can only feel envious of those Hornets fans whose progress to the final included victory at SJP. 

We live in hope that one day it'll be our turn again, but this club's failure to advance beyond the fourth round since 2006 remains an utter disgrace, with blame not wholly at the owner's door. 

Niall/Biffa