"It's just that way. It obviously can't continue and it's difficult to take, but that's as good a performance as we have given, especially away from home. We did well at Arsenal and we have done well here, so I'm very, very pleased."
However, Bruce was unhappy with the decisive goal, which Taylor could only palm into his own net after Emre's shot sped through a crowded penalty area. The goalkeeper was quick to take the blame - could he do anything else - but Bruce put it down to some "mystery".
"No, it didn't take a deflection," he said. "I don't know what it was. We all know if it's taken a deflection and it's gone in the middle of the goal, it's a mistake."
This was the man many Toon fans prefered to Souness when Sir Bobby was given the boot last year, but how many would swap them over now?