To the dismay of a vociferous home crowd, Newcastle left Selhurst Park on Saturday with a precious point, albeit one that they scarcely deserved.

A spectacular second half equaliser by Callum Wilson meant that Graeme Jones avoided defeat in his first match as interim Magpies Head Coach.

However, the striker's acrobatic bicycle kick rounded off a rare moment of goalmouth threat from the visiting side - and would have counted for nothing were it not for the late intervention of VAR official Lee Mason.

A second goal of the game from Christian Benteke on 87 minutes looked to have secured three points for Palace - only for Mason to halt celebrations and send referee Darren England across to consult a pitchside TV screen.

Almost inevitably, England rightly agreed that an offence was committed before Benteke headed in a corner - intended marker Ciaran Clark restrained by Marc Guehi as the ball came over, giving the scorer a free header.

That call further enraged the Eagles fans in the crowd who had welcomed the sides on to the pitch with a banner mocking United's new majority Saudi owners and the Premier League owner test.

A series of debatable judgements by England in favour of the visiting side then brought chants of "sh*t referee",  before the VAR decision prompted choruses of "how much are they paying you?" - rather less joyous than their pre-match rendition of "Glad all over."

For all of their frustration with officials though, the home support had watched their favourites come to dominate the game - but miss the opportunities to turn that superiority into a convincing victory.

Chief offender in wasting chances was Benteke, who headed against a post on 21 minutes and then volleyed over just after the interval when well placed.

The Belgian forward finally converted from close range 11 minutes after the restart - a goal that was no surprise, given the increasing discomfort United had been in since an early flurry saw Emil Krafth's shot blocked on the line and Wilson put the rebound into the side netting.

Benteke then rattled the crossbar with a 63rd minute header from a right wing centre by Michael Olise - who was rather more impressive than the off-colour Allan Saint-Maximin in the bobbing and weaving stakes today.

Two minutes after that latest let-off though, Newcastle rather improbably drew level - just as Jones was about to make a double substitution.

Joe Willock and Miggy Almiron were ready to replace Sean Longstaff and Ryan Fraser, but those changes were delayed for a 62nd minute corner that was taken by Ritchie.

That was headed back across the area by Jamaal Lascelles, bouncing off Krafth and falling for Wilson to execute a perfect bicycle kick that flew beyond goalkeeper Guaita and into the top corner of the Holmesdale End net.

A goal of out nothing then; totally out of keeping with what up until then had been a rearguard action, when our rare forays into the home box had chiefly come from a couple of long throws by Krafth.

Back came Palace and it was that man Benteke after 72 minutes, played in by James McArthur and looking a certain scorer - only to harmlessly blast his shot wide of the target.

Then came the VAR drama three minutes from the end - a welcome boost to United after a series of technological verdicts had penalised them so far this season.

As Jones said afterwards, avoiding what would have been a third successive loss is a base to start from - regardless of how it was achieved.

On that basis, it has echoes of stealing points from visits to Wolves and Spurs last season, when it was anything but obvious how we'd pulled that off.

Points won't make prizes though - and only victories will see us leave the drop zone. Expect similar damage limitation against free-scoring PL leaders Chelsea at Gallowgate next week, but with less chance of our avoiding defeat.

It gets no easier on the field - and neither does the task of finding and acquiring a suitable candidate to replace Steve Bruce, for all the fighting talk and grandiose claims being bandied around.

Short of bribing officials as suggested by Palace fans, our new-found riches cannot influence matters on the field for at least another eleven games.

The challenge for Jones (or whoever) remains to avoid being cast adrift until then - and for reinforcements to arrive with the bongs of Big Ben still echoing, not in the final hours of the window as in previous seasons.

Of the four coaches at pitchside last Sunday, three remained here at the first whistle today and on that basis it wasn't too much of a shock to see only two changes to the starting line-up: Ryan Fraser and Krafth recalled as Joelinton and Willock stood down and the back five was quickly restored.

That to us indicates that Jones had a significant input into team selection before - or at least agreed with it, rather than tolerating the choices made. Had that not been the case, then the likes of Jamal Lewis, Dwight Gayle and Jeff Hendrick could have been introduced.

That continuity begs the question of what will really change now - and whether those who believe this squad to be capable of more than they have shown this season under the command of the now-departed Geordie Chancer will be proved right.

Much as we'd like to agree, aside from Wilson's goal there was precious little evidence here to back up that view today, unless one counts good fortune shining on us for once. New faces, new finances, familiar failings.

Biffa