Steve Bruce handed three of his January signings a chance from the start in their clash at Arsenal.
Valentino Lazaro, Danny Rose and Nabil Bentaleb were .
It meant that Matt Ritchie was dropped to the bench while Isaac Hayden did not get the chance to impress from the beginning against his old club.
And with Andy Carroll, Yoshinori Muto and Dwight Gayle still injured, Bruce had no choice but to stick with Joelinton as his front man.
Bruce though able to rely on FA Cup hero Allan Saint-Maximin against Mikel Arteta's men.
Bruce had said before the game: "We've got 13 games to go and have got ourselves in a decent position.
"It gives us the platform to have a decent season.
"I think we've done okay. We've had huge problems over six weeks and fair play to the squad for showing that resilience."
NEWCASTLE UNITED: Dubravka, Clark, Lascelles, Fernandez, Lazaro, Almiron, S. Longstaff, Bentaleb, Rose, Saint-Maximin, Joelinton.
Subs: Darlow, Schar, Lejeune, M. Longstaff, Hayden, Atsu, Ritchie.
ARSENAL : Leno, Bellerin, Mustafi, Luiz, Saka, Xhaka, Ceballos, Ozil, Pepe, Nketiah, Aubameyang.
Subs: Martinez, Sokratis, Kolasinac, Torreira, Willock, Martinelli, Lacazette.
