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What had been dubbed the biggest match in the relegation battle turned out to be a draw and also was low on quality.

Michael owen saved the day for his manager by scoring a second half equalizer and earned Newcastle only their third point from the eight Premier League matches since Keegan took over.

Newcastle fielded a strong attacking team with Micheal Owen playing along Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins for the first time.

First half was largely controlled by the blues enjoying the possession against a disjointed Magpies side. McFadden made his presence felt in the early minutes by unleashing a 20 yard drive which took a slight deflection and few inches wide of the goal post. Newcastle were unconvincing in their defense especially during the corners. McFadden finally broke the dead lock at 32 minutes when David Murphy lofted the ball into the penalty area and McFadden overpowered Faye and landed the ball in the far corner of the post.

Larsson was at the receiving end of the poor tackles from both Geremi and Butt but only the former was booked and Larrson was limping and was substituted in the second half.

Second half saw a transformed Newcastle side and a couple of good saves from Taylor to deny Magpies a victory. Owen was proving to be a threat and almost scored a goal in the 50th minute only to be denied by a superb save from Taylor.

But Owen got his much deserved goal when he score at 54th minute when he scored from a rebound of Martins. From then on the visitors dominated the game and it required some hard work in front of the goal by Taylor to deny them a winner.

Blues offered a long shot from Zarate in the closing stages of the game.

McFadden was excellent throughout and deserved to be on the winning side. He spoke after the game 'We were by far the best team in the first half. They were the better team in the second half but if we take our chances it's a different game'

'They've done well to come back into it and in the end we've done well to hang on.'