Another clean sheet, another win and, albeit briefly, at the end of this match Newcastle found themselves in the heady environs of the top four.

That the points difference between them and Chelsea in first is bigger than the gap between them and QPR, now rooted to the bottom after again failing to notch up an away point, speaks volumes about the leaders’ current dominance but won’t trouble Alan Pardew greatly.

His side, buoyed by the confidence of five straight wins in all competitions, dominated the opening first half an hour. 

Massadio Haidara, Moussa Sissoko, Ayoze Perez and Remy Cabella surged forward in wave after wave of attack with Ryan Taylor (pictured), starting in the league for the first time in more than two years, pulling the strings.

However, Taylor’s injury curse struck again just after the half-hour mark when he went down, his knee the concern again. Although he will only need five weeks’ rest, his tears showed his pain was as much mental as physical. 

“The win is tinged with sadness because he is a person and personality who doesn’t deserve the trauma he’s having and that he’s already had,” said Pardew after the match.

Taylor’s exit dampened the atmosphere and Newcastle’s attacking verve. “I thought it was drifting its way to a nil-nil draw,” said QPR boss Harry Redknapp. “I wasn’t on tenterhooks thinking they were going to grab a winner.”

But that’s just what Newcastle did with 12 minutes remaining. Sissoko won the ball on the left of QPR’s area and fed Sammy Ameobi, who was implored to “Shoot!” by an increasingly desperate crowd. 

Instead, he dinked the ball forward to Sissoko who had continued his run into the box. In one move he controlled the ball, turned and shot through Karl Henry’s legs and beyond Rob Green.

It was no more than Pardew’s team deserved for their dominance during the match but it was a hammer blow for QPR, who contributed a considerable amount of effort to the match but were left with not enough time to salvage anything.