Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew admits the derby took Papiss Demba Cisse by surprise.
Pardew hauled off Cisse for Shola Ameobi and was rewarded with an equaliser.
"Papiss (Cisse) did not really understand the fixture. His talent was not reflected in how he played, and I was tempted to make the change at half-time," Pardew admitted. "Shola did not have enough physical strength to play 45 minutes, so we held on. Luckily he got the job done. It was justice we got a goal."