Renewed pressure mounts on Souness

Newcastle 0 Blackburn 1: Newcastle boss Graeme Souness was plunged further into crisis when a controversial Morten Gamst Pedersen goal handed former club Blackburn all three points at St James' Park.

The Norwegian appeared to punch the ball into the net with his left hand as he attempted to turn Shefki Kuqi's 74th-minute header home, but referee Howard Webb saw nothing wrong and awarded the goal. Until that point, the home side had looked the more likely winners and went close through Albert Luque, Alan Shearer, Lee Bowyer and Celestine Babayaro, but their luck deserted them once again as they slipped to their fourth defeat in five Premiership games to leave chairman Freddy Shepherd stone-faced and Souness fighting for his job.

Rovers boss Mark Hughes will have been delighted with his side's battling display, but left the North-East with mixed feelings after striker Paul Dickov fractured his collarbone. Souness may not have admitted it, but the absence of Craig Bellamy - the striker was suspended - was a welcome bonus on an afternoon when there was pressure enough without a man with something to prove determined to add to the pressure on his shoulders.

The breakdown in the relationship between the two men proved a defining moment in the manager's tenure, and one which the club's fans are still divided over. They are divided too on whether or not the Scot should still be in the job after an injury-wrecked season to date, and with Shepherd having fired a warning shot across his bows during the week by reminding him that European qualification is still a requirement, the Toon Army turned out knowing victory over Blackburn was the only acceptable result.

Souness had endured a dreadful run of luck, but that does not fully explain some of the sub-standard displays his team have produced in recent weeks, and the fact that they played attacking and at times attractive football before the break went down well with the black and white faithful in a crowd of 51,323.

Of course, there was a certain amount of slapstick defending - it would have been comical if it were not so serious - but in the shape of keeper Shay Given, the men at the back once again found a saviour.

The game was 17 minutes old when Titus Bramble failed to cut out Pedersen's driven cross and with Jean-Alain Boumsong and Babayaro conspicuous by their absence, Dickov fired towards goal. Given, who will have done his chances of winning a new contract little harm, somehow managed to throw himself a cross his line to claw the ball away, but notice had been served.

However, the Irishman's heroics came after opposite number Brad Friedel had already distinguished himself with a superb save to deny £9.5million signing Luque his first goal for the club with a fine seventh-minute stop.

Newcastle were as fluent as they have been in recent weeks in attack with Nolberto Solano and Luque providing width - although the Spaniard's defensive duties went largely ignored - and 22-year-old striker Michael Chopra proving an industrious foil for 35-year-old skipper Shearer, who went close with a 34th-minute effort which cleared the advancing Friedel, but dropped wide. Bowyer drilled another effort wide under pressure after being set up by Shearer, and although Rovers threatened repeatedly through wide men Pedersen and Steven Reid with Robbie Savage providing the ammunition, there was a general feeling of optimism as the sides left the pitch at half-time.

Luque's blushes were spared by an offside flag after he headed a 47th-minute Bramble cross wide from close range, and Bowyer was similarly inaccurate after being picked out by Solano six minutes later. By that point, Hughes had been forced to replace Dickov with Sergio Peter after the Scot had fractured his collarbone when falling awkwardly, and the momentum was increasingly with the home side.

Bowyer could not hit the target once again on 56 minutes after being set up by Solano and Shearer, but the chances were coming with greater regularity. Shearer powered a 61st-minute header straight into Friedel's hands and then forced the keeper to save at his feet after Alan O'Brien, on for the clearly unhappy Luque, had done well down the left. But when the opening goal arrived, it came at the other end, and in controversial circumstances.

Shefki Kuqi climbed high to head Lucas Neill's cross back across goal, and Pedersen appeared to punch it into the net with his hand, but referee Webb awarded the goal. Babayaro's long-range piledriver four minutes later flew just wide with Friedel beaten, but as time ran down, Newcastle's desperation grew.

Newcastle piled forward in the search for an equaliser as the clock ran down and Bowyer had late claims for a penalty turned down, but the players left the pitch to calls for the manager's head on another black afternoon on Tyneside.