A late strike for Papiss Cisse made it two injury time winners in consecutive home games for Newcastle this Saturday afternoon. Crystal Palace travelled to North East for the second time within a week when they faced Pardew's men, having faced fellow strugglers Sunderland last weekend. The Eagles were well aware that if results didn't go their way then they could find themselves back in the bottom three come the end of the day. Pulis decided gave Cameron Jerome the nod to lead the line ahead of Glen Murray after seeing his side fail to score last time out. The opening chance of the match fell to Newcastle with Tiote setting the tempo for the rest of the half after only two minutes. The Ivorian midfielder lined up a freekick just outside of the area but could only manage to fire it harmlessly into the wall, highlighting how much the Magpies still miss Cabaye's presence and skill at dead ball opportunities. The teams struggled to settle on the ball and the game descended into a congested midfield battle with both sets of players failing to find time and space when in possession. As a result, the only real chances game from breakaways and it was Jerome who had Palace's best chance of the half, flashing a header past the post from Puncheon's cross after seven minutes. The combination of Cisse and De Jong displayed why they only have one league goal between them this season. After 12 minutes Cisse turned his man well in the box but could only fire directly at Speroni, de Jong heading over the rebound when he perhaps had more time than he initially thought. Newcastle awoke from their slumber around the half hour mark with the crowd growing increasingly restless and in a five minute spell they had two shouts for a hand ball in the box amongst a succession of corners. Referee Probert was unmoved and the teams went in level at the break. Palace began the second half the brighter of the two teams with Jerome again finding space and firing narrowly wide. His effort was followed soon after by Dikgacoi, the midfielder going through one on one, only for Krul to save well at his feet. However, Palace's best moment came on 56 minutes when Bolasie brilliantly controlled a ball well out wide, turned inside his man on the edge of the box and fired a shot over Krul and on to the top of the bar. The pressure sparked Newcastle into change and John Carver quickly brought on Ben Arfa to replace the fairly anonymous de Jong in an effort to change the tide back into Newcastle's favour. The move appeared to work with Palace pushed further and further back into their half as the clock ticked on to 90 minutes. Newcastle began to dominate possession and Cisse had a great opportunity to open the scoring after 67 minutes. He attacked a Ben Arfa cross well but the luckless striker saw his header go the wrong side of the post.With time ebbing away, it looked like neither time was going to have the quality to snatch a winner. As the clock hit 90 minutes Tiote picked the ball up 30 yards from goal and smashed a pile driver against the bar. The rebound was played back into Cisse's path, only for the striker to completely mis-hit his shot again. However, with virtually the last kick of the game, Ben Arfa played a wonderful chipped ball into the path of Cisse and the Senegalese striker steered a header well past Speroni to seal all three points for the Magpies. A harsh result for Pulis' men who deserved more from the game but another home win for Newcastle and a goal from Papiss Cisse will boost the Tynesider's confidence ahead of Tuesday's clash with Everton. Man of the Match: Hatem Ben Arfa
