Ahead of Newcastle's trip to Selhurst Park on Friday night, we take a trip down memory lane to April 2016 when United secured a 1-0 win in the Premier League.

Current Palace winger Andros Townsend was the man to score the only goal of the game with a stunning free-kick.

Magpies keeper Karl Darlow also played a massive part in the victory as he denied former Toon man Yohan Cabaye from the penalty spot.

The result saw Newcastle go four unbeaten in the Premier league for the first time since November 2014 following a win over Swansea City and draws with Manchester City and Liverpool for Rafael Benitez' men.

The Magpies were lifted out of the relegation zone for the time being, although Sunderland and Norwich City had a game in hand and the former would eventually beat the Toon to survival.

  • Story of the game

Despite a packed out St. James' Park, it was a strange, tense atmosphere and the action on the pitch mirrored the nervous energy in the stands.

Jamaal Lascelles made a priceless tackle in the 11th minute that would turn out to be almost as vital as Townsend's stunning effort and Darlow's save to deny ex-Sunderland striker Conor Wickham from going through on goal.

The first half was one of very few chances with Townsend, Georginio Wijnaldum and Papiss Cisse having half chances and Darlow having to make smart stops to deny Cabaye and Yannick Bolasie. 

Towards the end of the first 45, Moussa Sissoko and Jack Colback squandered chances to give their side the lead and they went in at the break with the deadlock still in tact.

On 58 minutes, Townsend raised the St. James' Park roof when he opened the scoring with a thumping free-kick from approximately 25 yards out.

It was the England international who had won the free-kick after being fouled by Palace defender Scott Dann and he got up and wrong footed Wayne Hennessey with his remarkable strike.

It was former Newcastle gaffer Alan Pardew who was in the dugout for the Eagles, but it was another ex-Magpie that had a golden chance to make an impact on the outcome.

French midfielder Cabaye had received a hostile reception from the home crowd and he was gifted the opportunity to restore parity when fellow Frenchman Sissoko handled the ball in the area and Mike Dean was only too happy to  exuberantly point to the spot.

Darlow guessed the correct way and made the save to keep his sides nose in front.

United managed to see out the final 20 minutes to ensure they gave themselves a fighting chance of staying in the division.

  • Man of the Match - Karl Darlow

Match winner Townsend had another fantastic game in a black and white shirt but it was the man between the sticks who made the biggest impact.

The former Nottingham Forest man had been out of favour on Tyneside with both Tim Krul and Rob Elliot ahead of him in the pecking order but injuries to them meant it was Darlow in net for United's run in.

Memories of his mistake against West Brom were erased from the fans' minds as the Englishmen enjoyed his finest hour in the crucial clash against Crystal Palace.

He had made some smart saves to deny Cabaye and Bolasie but it was the penalty stop that secured his place as man of the match.

Similarly to in 2016, Darlow will be in the Toon lineup against Palace this time round too as a result of the injury of Martin Dubravka.

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  • Starting XIs

Newcastle United: Darlow, Anita (Shelvey, 88), Dummett, Tiote, Mbemba, Lascelles, Colback, Wijnaldum (Perez, 80), Sissoko, Cisse (Mitrovic, 72) , Townsend. 

Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Ward, Dunn, Delaney, Souare, Jedinak, Cabaye, McArthur (Sako, 61), Bolasie, Puncheon (Gayle, 73), Wickham (Adebayor, 74).