“Alan Pardew — Back from the dead” read the sign held up by a Newcastle fan dressed as a skeleton at the end of this well-deserved win on Saturday and it does look as if his resurrection is complete. For now at least.

Pardew was entitled to a smile of satisfaction at the end of the match. His tactics and team selection worked to perfection. 

He gave Mehdi Abeid his first Premier League start and the player put in a commanding performance. The defence subdued Liverpool’s attacking threat.

Newcastle took the lead in the 73rd minute after a rejuvenated Moussa Sissoko and Paul Dummett combined in the box, Alberto Moreno bungled an attempted clearance and Ayoze Perez was on hand to lash the ball home.

Just three minutes later Newcastle had a gilt-edged chance to put victory all but beyond doubt when Remy Cabella found himself through on goal following a two-on-one break with Perez, but Simon Mignolet made an excellent save with his feet 

The goal followed an Moreno mistake but no doubt some headlines will, tiresomely, focus on Mario Balotelli’s contribution. He was by no means Liverpool’s worst player and to that end Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was at pains to point out that Liverpool had lost as a team, saying: “It wasn’t Mario’s fault we lost the game, we lost it collectively. I don’t want to talk about Mario, it wasn’t his fault.”

While he ponders a mid-week trip to the Bernabeu and how he can deal with the loss of Luis Suarez to Barcelona and Daniel Sturridge to injury, Pardew was left pondering how to celebrate the win. 

“It’ll be brilliant in town tonight, I might even go myself, for the first time in a year,” he said. He deserves to join in with the celebrations.