Newcastle 0-1 Crystal Palace: Eagles grind out win
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Luka Milivojevic sends Martin Dubravka the wrong way to give his side an invaluable victory
Crystal Palace's victory at Newcastle means they have amassed enough points to avoid the drop, according to manager Roy Hodgson.
The Eagles' victory saw them take their points tally to 39 - 11 clear of 18th-placed Cardiff with just five games left to play.
Palace skipper Luka Milivojevic scored the decisive goal at St James' Park as the fired home from the spot after Wilfried Zaha had been felled in the penalty box by DeAndre Yedlin late on.
"I think 39 points, with our goal difference, will see us over the line," Hodgson told Premier League Productions.
"It was a very hard-fought game and I'm pleased with the way we handled it. I am very, very proud of the team's performance."
Both sides had seen goals disallowed in the first half; Salomon Rondon was called offside after bundling home Matt Ritchie's knockdown before James Tomkins fired in from a corner only for the flag to be raised due to James McArthur's offside position.
The hosts then lost Florian Lejeune midway through the second period as he was carried off on a stretcher after suffering a nasty knee injury.
The victory lifts Palace to 12th while the Magpies drop to 15th, though they are still seven points clear of Cardiff, who currently occupy the final spot in the relegation zone.
Milivojevic strikes again
Palace are virtually safe - Hodgson
Had Palace beaten Watford last month they would have had an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley to look forward to this weekend. Instead, it was a trip to St James' Park in the Premier League.
The hosts dominated for much of the first period and Eagles keeper Vicente Guaita was called into action on a number of occasions to deny Rondon.
Palace, however, held firm and looked dangerous on the break.
And it was from a lightning counter-attack with which they found the winner as Zaha skipped past Fabian Schar before being fouled by Yedlin. The skipper did the rest from the spot.
Milivojevic has now scored 11 goals across all competitions this season and, incredibly, 10 of those have come from the spot.
"This three points will guarantee [us staying up]," Milivojevic told Premier League Productions.
"Today our game over 90 minutes was very good. We controlled the game in the second half.
"This season I have scored a lot [of penalties] which is not easy but we cannot forget the attacking players with a lot of quality and skills [to win the penalties]."
While it would take an extraordinary run of results to see Palace relegated with the 36 points they held before Saturday's game, they are now just one point off the 40-point mark.
Newcastle's home run comes to an end
Newcastle made one mistake and paid for it - Benitez
The foundations of Newcastle's recent successes have been built on their strong home form, which had seen them string together a five-match winning streak at St James' Park in the league.
And it looked as though the Magpies would carry that good form into Saturday's clash with Palace as they started the better of the teams.
Ritchie tested Guaita early on, however it was Rondon who was their chief threat. The Venezuelan could have scored a hat-trick in the first half alone had his finishing been more precise.
Rafael Benitez's side may feel hard done by as Miguel Almiron, Ayoze Perez and Rondon all spurned chances in the second period.
But for all Newcastle's efforts, and their 18 shots, Palace only needed one shot on target to take all three points.
The Magpies remain on 35 points having suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since January.
"These are the kind of games that leave you very disappointed. Every game is a final and every game we will try to get three points," Benitez told Premier League Productions.
"It's a game we can't believe we lost. With the chances we had and the control we had, we made too many mistakes in the last minutes. We had enough chances to win the game."
Man of the match - Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace)
Luka Milivojevic was at the centre of everything for the Eagles. He made more passes than any of his team-mates, had the joint-most touches and scored the decisive goal
'There's no-one better from the spot' - what they said
Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson told Premier League Productions: "We dealt with Newcastle's attacking threat and it was a sterling effort by the back four and goalkeeper to deal with the balls they whipped into the area.
"And on the counter-attack or even at the start of the game, not on the counter-attack, we looked dangerous. We were constantly threatening and looking like we might score.
"There's no-one better from the spot [than Luka Milivojevic]. It's great that Luka is doing that and it's the real skill but we have to pay tribute to Wilfried Zaha, who keeps winning these penalties."
Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez on Match of the Day: "It's a big disappointment because we had a lot of chances and lots of shots on goal but this is sometimes the kind of game you cannot win but it is important not to lose.
"The most difficult one is the final third. We pushed and we attacked but we didn't control the counter-attack the way we should have done."
Palace thrive on the road - the stats
Crystal Palace have won 59% of their Premier League points away from home this season (23/39), the highest ratio in the division.
Newcastle are winless in all 11 of their Premier League games against London sides this season, drawing two and losing nine.
Crystal Palace won despite having just three shots on goal in this match - no side has won a Premier League game with fewer attempts this season.
Newcastle have lost their last two Premier League games, as many as they had in their previous nine in the competition (W5 D2 L2).
Luka Milivojevic has scored 10 Premier League penalties for Crystal Palace this season - only Andrew Johnson in 2004-05 (11, also with Crystal Palace) has scored more in a single campaign in the competition.
Milivojevic has scored 13% of all the penalty goals in the Premier League this season (10/76).
Salomon Rondon was directly involved in 50% of Newcastle's 18 shots in this match, taking five shots and setting up four.
What's next?
Newcastle now face a trip to King Power Stadium to face Leicester City on Friday night (12 April, 20:00 BST). Then, the following Sunday, Crystal Palace host Manchester City (14 April, 14:05 BST).