Alan Pardew hailed an important win and an excellent first-half performance after Loic Remy alleviated some of the pressure on the Newcastle manager by grabbing a double in the 2-1 win at Cardiff.
The French striker took his tally to five goals in his last three appearance as he produced two excellent finishes to put the Magpies in control at Cardiff City Stadium.
The visitors surrendered the initiative after the break as Cardiff, inspired by substitute Jordon Mutch, pulled a goal back from Peter Odemwingie but they could not find a leveller.
Pardew was understandably delighted with the victory. The abject first-half display in Monday's defeat at Everton had further increased speculation over his future, but their performance in the first 45 minutes here could not have been more stark in its contrast.
"I think it was an important win, on Monday night we let ourselves down as a group and we wanted to put it right," he said.
"We started doing that in the second half at Everton but today we put in a really good display.
"The first half was as good as I have seen us play, even going back to the year we finished fifth, we locked them in, we had a more offensive look to us.
"We did not play as well in the second half but we at least showed resilience that when the home team put pressure on us we can cope with it.
"I am pleased with how the whole group conducted themselves, how the players who were left out conducted themselves and it's been a good day for us."
Remy's double also equalled an unusual Premier League record, it meant Newcastle's last 12 league goals have all been scored by Frenchman, putting them level with Arsenal's 2003-04 'Untouchables'.
Source: PA
