Last Updated: Sat, 17 Nov 2012 18:07
Michu set Swansea on the road to a 2-1 victory at Newcastle as the misfiring Magpies slipped to a second home defeat in seven days.
On a day when the home side were prevented from fielding their own big-money frontman Papiss Cisse because of a wrangle with the Senegal Football Federation, the depth of Alan Pardew's squad was exposed once again.
A team shorn of Cisse, the suspended Fabricio Coloccini and the injured Yohan Cabaye and Jonas Gutierrez once again failed to triumph in a home game and allowed three points to slip tamely from their grasp. Last Sunday it was West Ham, this time Swansea were the beneficiaries.
Newcastle had chances - Hatem Ben Arfa was denied a spectacular first-half opener by Swans goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel - and Demba Ba, who struck in injury time, was guilty of a series of costly earlier misses.
However, the visitors were more than a match for their hosts and were good value for their win, which was secured by Michu's 58th-minute header and a second from Jonathan de Guzman three minutes from time.
Ba was in the right place at the right time to pounce, when substitute Sylvain Marveaux's header crashed back off the bar it was the Senegal international who was on hand to restore some pride for the Magpies.
There were boos on the final whistle from sections of the home fans among a crowd of 49,403, with memories of last season's champagne football increasingly distant amid a run of seven Barclays Premier League games which has brought just one victory.
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