Mpenza strike makes Newcastle pay

Newcastle's slim hopes of European qualification were ended as Manchester City won 1-0 at St James' Park.

Emile Mpenza, who scored his first goal for the club at Middlesbrough a fortnight ago, struck 10 minutes from time to claim a second win in as many games and further ease the pressure on manager Stuart Pearce.

The toothless Magpies were booed from the pitch by a crowd of 52,004 after a disjointed and uninspired display, although defender Steven Taylor might have snatched a point at the death with a header which hit the crossbar.

City came closest to the opening goal before half-time when Mpenza made the most of hesitancy in the home defence to blast a left-footed shot against the crossbar from 25 yards with Shay Given beaten.

Newcastle skipper Scott Parker had earlier seen a 17th-minute strike ruled out for offside and Nolberto Solano had whistled a long-range effort just wide.

City boss Stuart Pearce made a change at the break when he replaced holding midfielder Dietmar Hamann with striker Georgios Samaras.

Richard Dunne headed well over from a 57th-minute Joey Barton corner as City relieved the pressure, but defensive partner Sylvain Distin had to make a vital block two minutes later after Damien Duff found Nolberto Solano at the far post.

Shay Given saved from Darius Vassell on 71 minutes before Craig Moore was replaced by fellow central defender Oguchi Onyewu. James Milner and Antoine Sibierski soon followed as replacements for Dyer and Solano.

City snatched victory when Michael Johnson picked out Mpenza in acres of space and he fired gleefully past Given to claim all three points.

Taylor rattled the crossbar with a minute remaining and Stephen Carr and Onyewu both went close to an equaliser, but it was simply not Newcastle's day.