It was an evening when Newcastle’s white knight emulated the club’s knight of the realm. If Eddie Howe keeps this up, Sir Bobby Robson’s statue could one day have company at St James’ Park.

Thanks to Miguel Almiron’s fantastic first-half goal, Howe became the first Toon boss since the late great Robson in 2004 to oversee six straight Premier League home wins.

It is a remarkable run of results which has seen Newcastle, who were second bottom on only five points when Howe took over in November, hit the magical 40-point mark with five games still to go.

Now, rather than fearing relegation, the Magpies are eyeing up a barely believable top-half finish having drawn level on points with 10th-placed Brighton.

It is incredible because you are talking about an absolute legend of the football club,’ said Howe on matching Robson’s milestone. ‘I never met him but he was somebody I always admired from afar. He is the benchmark around anything you try and do here – so it was great to have done that.’

Even more significantly for Howe, this win was witnessed by Newcastle’s Saudi chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan. It was just the third match he has attended since October’s takeover, the last one being a shock FA Cup defeat by League One Cambridge. But this was a completely different experience – and he even enjoyed a kickabout on the pitch with the club’s co-owners after the game.

‘I am so pleased that he was here to see the team and the scenes after the game,’ said Howe. ‘He came into the dressing room and enjoyed the moment with the players. Hopefully we are building a solid relationship where we can take the club forward.’

It was a special atmosphere from the start at St James’, with the Gallowgate saluting out-of-sorts star Allan Saint-Maximin with a special display of flags which made up a giant gold No 10.