NEWCASTLE UTD 3 READING 2
Newcastle Given, Solano, Taylor, Ramage, Babayaro, Milner,Butt, Emre, N'Zogbia, Sibierski, Martins (Rossi 89).
Subs Not Used: Srnicek, Luque, Huntington, Pattison.
Reading Hahnemann, Murty (Bikey 90), Sonko, Ingimarsson,Shorey, Oster, Sidwell, Harper, Hunt (Little 36),Doyle (Lita 81), Ki-Hyeon.
Subs Not Used: Federici, Gunnarsson.
Att: 48,182
Emre fired Newcastle out of the relegation zone as the Magpies came from behind to snatch a precious Barclays Premiership victory.
The Turkish international blasted home a superb winner six minutes from time to prevent the Royals from climbing to the dizzy heights of third place.
As so often with Newcastle, it was an agonising 90 minutes for the home fans among a crowd of 48,182 as their side squandered the 23rd-minute lead given to them by Antoine Sibierski to trail to James Harper's quick-fire double.
However, striker Obafemi Martins paid off a sizeable chunk of his £10million transfer fee by converting a 57th-minute penalty for his first league goal at St James' Park to end the visitors' run of four successive Premiership victories.
The win eased Glenn Roeder's side out of the bottom three and into 15th place, but came courtesy of a white-knuckle ride which made for compulsive viewing, if through the fingers.
Reading arrived on Tyneside knowing a point would be enough to elevate them to the unlikely heights of third in the Premiership table.
Newcastle's needs, however, were far more basic as they attempted to drag themselves out of the mire once again in the midst of an injury crisis which left Roeder with the minimum of selection decisions to make.
He restored Martins to the starting line-up and sent his side out under orders not to return without a victory.
And after an ordinary start during which Steve Coppell's side showed exactly why they have managed to bridge the gap between the Coca-Cola Championship and the top flight with such ease, they looked on target to do so.
The visitors should have been behind on 16 minutes when Sibierski met an inviting James Milner cross unopposed, but somehow directed his header straight at keeper Marcus Hahnemann.
But the Frenchman was not so wasteful a second time and when Nolberto Solano ran on to Emre's beautifully weighted pass seven minutes later, he applied an unstoppable header to the Peruvian's cross to open the scoring.
Martins fired high over four minutes later after being played in by Sibierski's clever back-heel, but he was desperately unfortunate not to open his account on Tyneside when he headed against the bar from another Solano delivery 10 minutes before the break.
Newcastle's failure to to take their chances has proved costly so far this season, and as Reading fought for a way back into the game, that combined with an alarming return to defensive ineptitude to torpedo their efforts.
There was an element of misfortune about the way Harper's 37th-minute shot deflected off Solano and beyond the helpless Shay Given to level the scores.
But the way in which they fell behind three minutes before the break was all their own work.
Celestine Babayaro failed to clear the ball on the edge of the penalty area and although Shay Given managed to palm away substitute Glen Little's driven cross, Emre missed his tackle on Harper and the midfielder stabbed a shot into the bottom corner.
There was no let-up from the visitors after the break as Newcastle struggled either to contain them or make anything of the possession they did manage to earn.
Steve Sidwell even had the confidence to attempt to lob Given from 40 yards after he had cleared the ball on 53 minutes, the Irishman scurrying back towards his line as the ball dropped wide.
But the Magpies were back in it on 57 minutes after Martins went down under Ibrahima Sonko's challenge in the box after exchanged passes with Sibierski and referee Rob Styles pointed to the spot.
After what seemed like an eternity, the Nigerian stepped up to slam the spot-kick to Hahnemann's left before celebrating with a spectacular tumble.
Sibierski thought he had restored his side's lead two minutes later after he ran on to Emre's pass and rounded Hahnemann before shooting home from a tight angle.
But an offside flag ended his joy, although television replays suggested wrongly.
Reading forced a series of corners which the Magpies just about repelled, but Martins appeared to have the bit between his teeth and fired just wide on 71 minutes after another excellent exchange of passes with Sibierski.
Hahnemann blocked a Sibierski shot on the line and it looked as though his side's chances had ebbed away.
But Emre chose the perfect moment to collect his first league goal of the season, surging towards the Reading box before unleashing an unstoppable shot, to win it.