Styles who dropped a clanger earlier in the season at Old Trafford when awarding Manchester United a penalty against Bolton after Jlloyd Samuel clearly won the ball against Ronaldo, committed exactly the same mistake again after just 13 minutes.
This time he penalised Habib Beye for a foul on Robinho after the defender clearly won the ball. And in awarding the penalty, the referee left himself with no other option than to compound his appalling blunder by red-carding Beye.
Newcastle will surely contest the dismissal with Beye facing a three-match ban starting with Saturday's derby at Sunderland.
That straight red card left Newcastle to contest 77 minutes with just ten players after falling behind to Robinho's resulting penalty.
And Joe Kinnear will be proud with the way his side rolled up their sleeves to draw level before the break, with Shola Ameobi's first goal in two years and then went ahead through a Richard Dunne own goal.
But that Styles decision clearly cost Newcastle their second win of the season after Stephen Ireland grabbed a late City equaliser.
City went into the match on the back of successive defeats but unbeaten in five games at Newcastle, having won four of them.
After ending four successive defeats with a 2-2 draw last time out at Everton, caretaker manager Kinnear was boosted for his first game in charge at St. James' Park by the return of Beye and Obafemi Martins, though he had to reckon without injured skipper Michael Owen.
Referee Styles gift-wrapped City the lead with a shocking moment of madness after 13 minutes. A through ball saw Robinho into the area only to have the ball whipped off his toes by a terrific Beye challenge.
Styles, some 30 yards away, immediately pointed to the spot and handed a straight red card to a dumfounded Beye.
Robinho, the most expensive player in British football, took the spot-kick responsibility and after a stuttering run-up slotted the ball to Shay Given's right, sending the keeper the wrong way.
Aggrieved Newcastle lost the plot for a few minutes before settling down before re-gathering their composure.
Good work by Ameobi saw him thread a delightful pass to Damien Duff, but the Irishman's attempted curled shot sailed into the arms of Joe Hart.
Ameobi proved a real handful all night as he searched for his first goal since 15 October 2006.
And it finally arrived after 44 minutes when a series of ricochets from a Martins cross eventually dropped to the big striker, who controlled and then didn't make the best of contacts, but it was sufficient to beat Hart.
The gallant ten men raised their game after the interval and charged into the most unlikely, yet deserved, lead after 63 minutes when City skipper Dunne could only watch in horror as he turned a corner into his own goal.
Newcastle could have wrapped up the points after 74 minutes when Duff, on the left, picked out Ameobi who could not direct his effort on target.
Disappointing City almost snatched an 85th minute equaliser only to be denied by an outstanding Given save from Ireland.
But within the space of a minute Ireland got his revenge when he was played in by Robinho and tucked his shot beyond Given, as City became the first Premier League side to score 20 goals this season.
And with Newcastle running on empty Ireland came within a whisker of a winner with a cross shot at the death.