At the end of a week during which the Magpies restored pride with a battling point against Arsenal, it looked as though they were heading for a draw until the Senegal international defender turned up at the near post in the final minute to head Emre's corner past Maik Taylor.
Big Sam Praise For 'Monumental Effort'!
Allardyce: "It is a really, really big three points. Nothing else really mattered today but three points, and we got them.
"We have worked very, very hard over the last seven days - Blackburn and then Arsenal and now Birmingham - and now finally got what we deserved.
"Birmingham, for us, is a winnable game. It would have been a huge disappointment had we not won this game today. I would have had to say 'this is not good enough'.
"As spirited and good a performance as Birmingham put up today, by the amount of dominance we showed in the first half - even though we did play a game in midweek and they did not - we should have put those chances away and put it beyond Birmingham.
"We have climbed up to where we ultimately had to get to today, and that was the win on the back of some good performances.
"Great credit has got to go to the lads for today's monumental effort. The huge disappointment of going 1-0 down to such a sloppy goal again was going to be a big 'ask' for the nerves.
"But the fans got behind us - and we kept on going, made the substitutions and kept on going, kept on going; then a quality ball and a quality header put us three points on the board that we so richly deserved."