Magpies earn priceless point

The 21-year-old struck on the hour to end a run of three successive home league defeats to relieve the pressure on their beleaguered manager.

Allardyce's men produced a performance of real character despite Emmanuel Adebayor's delicious fourth-minute opener to deny the Gunners a six-point lead at the top of the table and prevent themselves from slipping to a third successive home defeat for the first time in the Premier League.

A single point alone may not turn Newcastle's season or Allardyce's fortunes around, but the bulk of a crowd of 50,305 went home confident that better times lie ahead for the first time in weeks.

They will hope their side can build upon that platform when Birmingham head for the north-east on Saturday with pride restored and the relationship between players and supporters, which has appeared strained at times, renewed.

Allardyce and owner Mike Ashley shared a joke in the directors' box before kick-off on a night which was perhaps never going to be decisive for the manager, but was one on which his team needed to provide hopes that things will turn.

The smiles, however, had disappeared within four minutes as a piece of sheer quality illuminated the Tyneside night.

Unfortunately for the vast majority of the spectators, it came from a man in a red and white shirt as Adebayor, who had earlier earned the jeers of the home fans for complaining about Taylor's innocuous challenge, silenced them with a breathtaking finish.

Whether or not he should have been allowed to get in between central defenders Taylor and David Rozehnal will no doubt have been discussed in the dressing room at half-time, as the Togo striker controlled Emmanuel Eboue's cross on his chest before thumping an unstoppable volley past Shay Given.

But Newcastle got their reward on the hour when Smith flicked on Habib Beye's cross and Martins dummied it for Taylor to fire home off the foot of the post.