Newcastle United earned a second successive Premier League win as captain Jamaal Lascelles proved their match-winner in attack and defence at Swansea City.
A soporific first half was enlivened by a flurry of late chances at both ends and a failed Newcastle appeal for a penalty after Mikel Merino appeared to dive under pressure from Alfie Mawson.
Tammy Abraham was a whisker away from giving Swansea the lead but, after he rounded visiting goalkeeper Rob Elliot, his shot was superbly cleared off the line by Lascelles.
The Newcastle centre-back then rose highest from a Matt Ritchie corner to score the game’s only goal with a thumping header.
A first away win in the Premier League since 2015 sees the Magpies climb up to 10th in the table, while the Swans slip to 15th after losing their opening two home league games of the season for the first time since 1985.
Newcastle were without their manager Rafael Benitez on the touchline as the Spaniard recovered from surgery to deal with an infection from a hernia operation two years ago.
He had overseen a first win of the season in the previous game before the international break – a handsome 3-0 victory over West Ham – but his side initially struggled to reproduce that form in his absence.
The visitors eventually settled and Joselu’s glancing header was brilliantly palmed away by Lukasz Fabianski, although Newcastle’s goalkeeper Elliot also had to show sharp reflexes to deny Jordan Ayew.
In between those chances there was a moment which prompted howls of fury from both sets of fans as Merino fell under a challenge from Mawson and appealed in vain for a penalty, with replays showing the Spaniard had dived and was lucky not to be booked.
It was not the only significant refereeing decision of the match – Ritchie booked for a high challenge on Mawson that was similar to the tackle that saw Sadio Mane dismissed for Liverpool on Saturday.
The Merino incident proved to be academic as Newcastle grew in confidence and looked increasingly threatening in attack, with the breakthrough coming after 76 minutes as Lascelles evaded Mawson to power his header beyond Fabianski.
There was further good news for Newcastle as assistant manager Francisco de Miguel Moreno told BBC Sport that Benitez would return to the club later this week.
“He wanted to attend but the weather conditions were not the best,” said De Miguel Moreno. “He has been active in the game and kept in touch with us throughout the game.
“After the game, Rafa rang us and congratulated all the team because they did a fantastic job. He said ‘we are now under way’.
“We need Rafa back as soon as possible. This week he will join us, probably on Tuesday.”
Swansea handed a first start to Renato Sanches, the Portuguese midfielder who joined from Bayern Munich on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day.
There were high hopes for the 20-year-old, a former Manchester United target who had joined Bayern from Benfica for 35m euros last year, although it was a mixed beginning to life in south Wales for Sanches as he showed some neat touches but also misplaced several passes.
His display personified a disjointed encounter which failed to produce any action of note until the closing stages of the first half.