Beye Ends Seven-Game Wait!
NEWCASTLE UTD: Given, Beye, Taylor, Rozehnal, N'Zogbia, Milner, Barton, Butt (Viduka 31), Geremi (Emre 72), Martins (Jose Enrique 90), Smith.
Subs Not Used: Harper, Edgar.
BIRMINGHAM CITY: Taylor, Kelly, Schmitz, Ridgewell, Sadler, De Ridder (Forssell 76), Larsson, Nafti, Muamba, McSheffrey (Kapo 62), Jerome.
Subs Not Used: Doyle, O'Connor, Parnaby.
Att: 49,948
We gave Habib Beye some stick for drifting out of position many times when we played Arsenal last Wednesday. But thankfully the Gunners didn't exploit it and we picked up a good point.
But there was no problem with Beye's positioning when he chose the perfect moment to claim his first Newcastle goal as the Magpies struck at the death to end their seven-game wait for a Premier League win.
The Senegal international headed substitute Emre's 90th-minute corner past Maik Taylor to snatch all three points as the Magpies completed a gritty fightback.
Cameron Jerome had given the visitors a shock lead when he made the most of yet more schoolboy defending from the Magpies to round Shay Given and score with just nine minutes gone.
Sam Allardyce's men took their time to get going, but they levelled on 36 minutes when Obafemi Martins converted a penalty after being tripped by Mathew Sadler.
James Milner rattled the crossbar four minutes before the break as Newcastle threatened to overwhelm the visitors.
However, Taylor twice saved from Martins, the second six minutes from time, and once from Milner, and the home side had to wait until the dying seconds to take all three points.
The win had manager Sam Allardyce dancing on the touchline as the ball found the net, and it was great to hear cheers ... rather than jeers ... at the final whistle.