Callum Wilson made it six goals in seven Premier League games for Newcastle to secure a 2-1 win over Everton at St James' Park.
The £20m summer signing won and converted a 56th-minute penalty before tapping home from close-range late on after a brilliant run from former Bournemouth team-mate Ryan Fraser.
But shortly after the fourth official had signalled that there would be six minutes of injury time, Dominic Calvert-Lewin fired in his 12th goal for club and country this season to make for a nervy finish.
Newcastle just about held on though, inflicting a second successive defeat on Carlo Ancelotti's Everton, who until eight days ago were the last remaining unbeaten Premier League side.
It was a defeat Everton keeper Jordan Pickford had to watch from the bench as he was dropped in favour of Robin Olsen, who was handed his debut.
Ancelotti insisted before the game that the England number one had been rested after a turbulent few weeks, and will return against Manchester United next weekend.
His absence was the major talking point on an afternoon when the visitors, blunted without the injured James Rodriguez and the suspended Richarlison, rarely looked like bouncing back from their first loss of the campaign at Southampton.
The absence of full-backs Seamus Coleman and Lucas Digne only served to enhance the disjointed nature of Everton's play.
🍒 Familiar Bournemouth fans?
— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) November 1, 2020
💨 No catching Ryan Fraser
👊 Callum Wilson bags his second
⚫️ Newcastle take the points
⚡️⚽️👇 #NUFC | #AFCB | #NEWEVE pic.twitter.com/DXoZHDU8xj
Newcastle head coach Steve Bruce had bristled at suggestions that his team was boring in the run-up to the game, and they were little more than functional, if marginally the better team on the day.
After a quiet first half of few chances, the Magpies were rewarded for showing more attacking ambition within 11 minutes of the restart when Andre Gomes fouled Wilson in an attempt to clear a near-post corner.
The England striker stepped up to send Olsen the wrong way from the spot.
🤦♂️ What exactly is Andre Gomes doing here?
— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) November 1, 2020
⚽️ No mistake from the spot for Callum Wilson and Newcastle lead Everton 1-0.
👇 #NEWEVE #NUFC #EVEpic.twitter.com/zhiY77IMZy
The game opened up as the Toffees pressed for an equaliser, and the Magpies looked to have wrapped it up six minutes from time when substitute Fraser surged into space on the left and crossed for Wilson to score at the far post.
However, Calvert-Lewin’s injury-time strike made for a tense conclusion during which a back-pedalling Darlow had to tip Bernardo’s looping effort over.
