Black Stars winger Christian Atsu made the most of teammate Matt Ritchie's absence from the Newcastle starting XI scoring in the early minutes of a 2-1 win over Cardiff City.
Poor defending allowed Atsu fire Newcastle in the third minute, and Frenchman Yoann Gouffran scored their second shortly before half-time.
Aleksandar Mitrovic found space in the Cardiff penalty area before teeing up Atsu for an easy finish.
Moments before half-time, Gouffran's low drive gave Newcastle the two-goal advantage their dominance of the game deserved.
Cardiff sparked hopes of a comeback when substitute Peter Whittingham scored with 13 minutes left.
However, Newcastle held-on to move six points clear at the top of the Championship table.