Newcastle 2-0 Sunderland - As It Happened

Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! We reach full-time with a whimper, not a shout, but Newcastle won't mind one bit. That win gives them bragging rights over Sunderland for the season, and also gives Kevin Keegan's side a fourth clean sheet in five games. Newcastle have also picked up 13 of a possible 15 points from those five games. Thanks for all your emails, sorry I couldn't use more.

90 mins Four minutes of injury time to be played. I dare say the result isn't about to change in that time.

88 mins Newcastle bring on David Edgar for Jose Enrique, and Sunderland's Ian Harte finally comes on for Paul McShane.

86 mins It has to be said that Newcastle look unrecognizable from the side which even looked at risk of relegation at one point a few months ago. For the most part they have absorbed this second-half pressure from Sunderland with very little trouble, and on the break their passing and trickery is indicative of the extent to which Keegan has restored shattered confidence. Butt plays in Geremi down the right with a sumptuous chipped ball forward, but Owen can't quite get his subsequent cut-back under control.

84 mins Jones looked to have got in behind the Newcastle defence for a second there as McShane crossed from the right, but Taylor adjusted his body and jumped at the last to cut out the delivery from the left. The ball returned to McShane, but his second attempt goes straight behind for a goal-kick.

81 mins Fantastic work by Owen, who drives down towards the left side of Sunderland's six-yard box and then just whisks the ball up and across Gordon's goal with his left foot, only for Higginbotham to beat the two onrushing Newcastle strikers to the ball and head behind for a corner, which comes to nothing.

79 mins Higginbotham heads wide from Reid's corner and Roy Keane sends on Michael Chopra to replace Daryl Murphy.

77 mins And now Newcastle have brought on Andrew Carroll for Viduka.

75 mins Kieran Richardson, who came on a few minutes back for Carlos Edwards, wellies a free-kick straight at the wall from 20 yards out after Faye brought down Jones. What a wall it was, too - it looked to have most of both team's players in it by the end.

72 mins And now Reid picks up a booking for having a little strop after he fouled Owen. "Has there been a better English keeper than Harper this season," inquires Richard Finch. "He's been a damn sight better than Given."

71 mins Obafemi Martins is coming off, to be replaced by Damien Duff.

69 mins And now an even better save from Harper at the other end. Kenwyne Jones found room between two Newcastle defenders to rise and meet a long angled delivery from the left channel. His header was powerful, low, and across Harper, but the Newcastle keeper showed incredible reflexes to get down and parry and his defence managed to hack the ball clear.

67 mins Excellent save from Gordon, who makes himself huge and blocks with his foot after Martins wriggled free of his marker to find himself one-on-one with the keeper. That really should have been 3-0 to Newcastle.

65 mins Geremi twirls a free-kick in from about 25 yards out on the right as Newcastle finally keep possession long enough for Viduka to draw a foul from Collins. Faye gets his head to the ball at the back post, but can't keep his effort on target.

63 mins Newcastle are giving the ball straight back to Sunderland pretty much every time they win it, but the visitors still haven't really forced Harper to make a save worthy of the name all match.

60 mins Reid clefts a dipping effort goal wards from 30 yards out but it doesn't come down far enough to trouble Harper. Moments earlier Jones had nodded the ball down invitingly for Miller eight yards from goal, but Taylor just managed to get his foot in and nudge the ball away before Miller could get a shot off.

57 mins Kenwyne Jones does well to get a shot off under pressure as he chases a through-ball down towards the left corner of the Newcastle six-yard box. Sadly the angle is too acute and he can only cut the ball back into the side netting of Harper's goal.

55 mins The Toon faithful are definitely getting a bit anxious as Faye hacks another cross clear, but Sunderland still aren't really creating many clear-cut openings.

52 mins Sunderland are beginning to build a bit of pressure on Newcastle now, the Magpies scrambling the ball away somewhat frantically as Jones weaved towards the area. "What is it with all these people having a go at Owen," demands David Scott. "Who do they want to play up front for England? Dean Ashton? Jermain Defoe?"

50 mins Probably Sunderland's best chance of the match as Danny Collins rises to power a header goal wards from 10 yards out, but Taylor blocks with his chest and the ball is hacked clear. There was actually a suspicion of handball about Taylor's intervention, but it's questionable how much he really knew about it.

48 mins Wasted opportunity for Newcastle as Martins fails to control a ball across the Sunderland area, only for it to reach an unmarked Owen chasing in behind him. Owen also miscontrols, however, and by the time he has it out from under his feet the Sunderland defence is back in place, with Higgintbotham eventually nicking the ball away.

46 mins We're off again. Royston is chewing gum. Kev is not.

Continuing a theme "How about a petition to prevent Owen ever taking abother penalty," poses Richard Finch. "His record on penalties is less than glorious. How that one ended up in the net is beyond me but please pass on my regards to Barry nonetheless." Barry isn't here I'm afraid Rich, otherwise I'd be able to give you a more accurate detailing of his current skin tones than previously provided. It really wasn't a great penalty though.

Not The Wee Micky Fan Club "The only bad thing about the arrival of Kevin Keegan," chimes George Templeton, "is that even though Michael Owen has no business being anywhere near an England shirt, Keegan's arrival has seen Owen hit the kind of form where Fabio Capello pretty much has to select him. And as an avowed Owen critic that is disappointing." Hmm, not sure I can agree with you on this one George - Owen's scoring record for England still stands up very well against any of his contemporaries, so I'm just happy to see him back in form. I do think Keegan deserves some serious credit for the way Owen's playing though - he's completely redefined his role at Newcastle, asking him to play out wide in a three-pronged attack - with Martins on the opposite flank (they both switch back and forth from left to right) and Viduka as a central pivot - and Owen has responded brilliantly. He looks very dangerous cutting in from either side, and has contributed far more to the team's overall game than he ever did as a straightforward striker in a 4-4-2. It will be interesting to see if Capello takes note of this development.

Peepety-peep! Mike Dean blows for half-time, but not before Daryl Murphy has earned himself a booking by clattering into Owen quite gratuitously down by the goal line on the right. Back in a tick with half-time thoughts and emails.

GOAL! Newcastle 2-0 Sunderland (Michael Owen, 45 mins) And Owen just about puts it away, squeezing the ball underneath Gordon, who actually got down to the strike very quickly. I dare say this game is already over as a contest.

44 mins Penalty to Newcastle! Owen and Viduka play an extremely cheeky little one-two in the area, and then Higginbotham handles the ball as Owen tries to skip over his sliding challenge.

42 mins Newcastle seem to have relented somewhat and Sunderland have enjoyed a lot of the play for the last few minutes, but they still aren't doing a lot with it. Keane should be happy to get to half-time with the score as it is after the way the game opened. He probably won't be though.

39 mins Andy Reid hacks a spinning effort towards the Newcastle goal from about 25 yards, but even though it bounces awkwardly on the edge of the six yard box, Harper claims gathers without any fuss. Royston Keane is cross, for a change.

36 mins Newcastle's fans let out a half-hearted penalty appeal as Martins goes down under pressure from McShane in the area, but Dean's not having it. Probably the right call - McShane may well have leaned on Martins a bit, but he seemed to have lost control of the ball with his first touch anyway. Besides which the contact started outside the area.

34 mins Geremi whisks a tricky corner over the Sunderland defence from the left, but Danny Collins is the man who gets underneath it at the back post and he nods clear.

32 mins Yeah, there's not a lot happening here right now to be honest. I'm guessing Barry has returned to a healthier shade of pale as another Sunderland foray into Newcastle's half peters out down by the corner flag.

29 mins Sunderland emerge from their half for the first time in several minutes, and even manage to get a shot off, though Whitehead's attempted volley from 18 yards was always going a long way over.

27 mins Micky Owen is sent spinning through the air by a hard, but fair, challenge from Nyron Nosworthy on the edge of the area.

24 mins "Stand up, if you had Sunlun", reverberates around St James's Park as Martins fails to keep a long ball forward in play with his heel down by the left touch-line. Elsewhere in Sky (and Setanta) League, Aston Villa have just finished beating Birmingham 5-1.

22 mins And Whitehead is on hand again with a desperate lunge to steal the ball off Mark Viduka's toes in the box.

20 mins Newcastle are only attacking in fits and starts (which is still a lot more than Sunderland), but when they do they look very incisive. Martins weaves past two defenders into the box from the left and lays the ball across to Owen near the penalty spot, but he can't quite elude Whitehead's challenge.

17 mins "In keeping with recent MBMs, is there any chance of a Glendenning-o-meter to accopmany today's match," requests Bernard O'Leary - making reference to Barry Glendenning (deputy editor of guardian.co.uk)'s pro-Sunderland leanings. "I feel I can't appreciate how badly Sunderland are playing unless I know exactly how suicidal Barry is feeling." I have to admit I haven't read the MBMs you reference there Bernard, but I'm going to say Barry's approaching a Sir Alex Ferguson-esque shade of puce about now.

15 mins Geremi swings in a free-kick from the right after Daryl Murphy brought down Habib Beye, but Dean Whitehead gets it clear. Ian Harte is already warming up on the sidelines for Sunderland.

13 mins It's still Newcastle doing most of the early running here. First Gordon has to palm a Beye drive from 25 yards round the post (OK, he didn't have to, but it wouldn't have gone far wide if he hadn't), then Geremi heads just wide at the near post from the ensuing corner.

10 mins Andy Reid has a speculative dig from 20 yards for Sunderland, but it's easily held by Harper.

9 mins Yup, McShane is off to a stormer here, heading Newcastle's corner from the left past Gordon and into his own net, only to get away with it because Dean had already whistled against Newcastle for some misdemeanor or other. Looking at the replay I actually have no idea what he whistled for to be honest, but there you go.

6 mins Sunderland romp straight down the other end and win a corner, but Carlos Edwards's inswinger from the right is easily dealt with.

GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Sunderland (Michael Owen, 4 mins) My, oh my that was shoddy defending from Sunderland. Geremi had all the time in the world to pick out a cross from deep on the right, and Michael Owen (yes, that Michael Owen - the 3ft 2ins one - actually outjumped Paul McShane in the middle to head past Craig Gordon. A well taken header to be fair to Micky - diverted with power inside Gordon's right-hand post - but honestly.

2 mins McShane is lucky to avoid a booking after scything down Michael Owen as Newcastle break from defence. "That would have been harsh so early in the game," parps our TV commentator. Erm, why? It was a late, bookable challenge.

1 min Away we go then, with Beye failing to control a pass down by the goal line on the left hand side and nudging the ball out for a Sunderland goal-kick.

Some Sky bod just pointed out that: Newcastle have kept three clean sheets in their last four games. When was the last time you could say that?

A fat man in a Newcastle shirt ... is meandering around the pitch butchering what I can only assume is a Magpies anthem. Sky cut to several fat men without shirts in the stands looking nonplussed.

Team news: Abdoulaye Faye and Nicky Butt have both shaken off injuries to start for Newcastle, but Sunderland have to do without the knacked Jonny Evans and Phil Bardsley in defence. Those two are replaced by Danny Higginbotham, who scored the opener in the reverse fixture in November, and Paul McShane, while Carlos Edwards and Liam Miller have also been brought in to replace former Newcastle striker Michael Chopra and Kieran Richardson respectively.

Newcastle: Harper, Beye, Faye, Taylor, Jose Enrique, Geremi, Butt, Barton, Owen, Viduka, Martins.Subs: Forster, Duff, Smith, Edgar, Carroll.

Sunderland: Gordon, McShane, Nosworthy, Higginbotham, Collins, Edwards, Whitehead, Miller, Reid, Murphy, Jones.Subs: Fulop, Harte, Richardson, Chopra, Leadbitter.

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)

Preamble: Hello, and welcome to the most north-easterly of all this afternoon's Premier League derbies. Back in November these two drew 1-1 at the Stadium of Light, but that was before Kevin "King" Keegan arrived to save Newcastle from evil Samuel "Sam" Allardyce and his dastardly one-striker formations. On paper there's not an awful lot riding on this one - neither side is going to get relegated at this stage, even if it is still mathematically possible - but it's a Tyne-Wear derby, so if nothing else we should get some fisticuffs in Sky's Fanzone commentary box.