Newcastle produced a clinical second-half performance to come from behind to beat Brentford 2-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium
Thomas Frank's team could have been three up at the break following a fast start, yet they only led 1-0 at half-time - thanks to Ivan Toney's second penalty of the day - after the striker first saw a goal ruled out for offside by VAR and then missed from the spot for the first time since 2018
Newcastle rallied after the restart and turned the game with two goals in six minutes, courtesy of Alexander Isak and David Raya's unfortunate own goal
As a result of their fifth straight Premier League win, the Magpies went back third, level on points with Manchester United, though with a vastly-superior goal difference
 Brentford, meanwhile, have won just one of their last five league games, which will not help their outside chances of European qualification
Brentford had been beaten 1-0 by Manchester United on Wednesday and never really got going during what was a largely defence-first display at Old Trafford
 It was clear from the first whistle they wanted to put that right on home soil
The Bees sprung out of the traps, won their first corner within two minutes and thought they had the lead inside 10, when Toney touched in from close-range after Nick Pope had clawed Jansson's header off the line
 VAR, however, intervened and the 'goal' was ruled out, with Toney having strayed offside in the build-up
Newcastle succeeding in pinning them back for a period, until Kevin Schade showed his electric pace to burst into the area, where he was wiped out by Sven Botman
 Referee Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot, but for the first time in his Brentford career, Toney was denied by Pope, who smothered an uncharacteristically tame delivery
VAR was called into action for a second time before the break, with Kavanagh heading to the pitchside monitor after Rico Henry was caught in the face by Isak's high boot
 There appeared to be an element of hesitation in Toney's decision as to whether he should take it, but he did - and this time, he made no mistake
Howe introduced Anthony Gordon and Callum Wilson at the break and there was almost immediately more intensity from Newcastle going forward
 With 54 minutes on the clock, they levelled when Joelinton was allowed time to dance into the box to pick his spot and hit a shot that struck Raya and nestled into the net
Just after the hour, the comeback was complete as Wilson squared for Isak, who took advantage of the little pressure placed upon him to curl a sumptuous effort past Raya - and it could have been three within moments, had VAR not spotted Wilson's handball as he brought down a corner and fired home
That decision appeared to spur Brentford on to try and force an equaliser at the least and they came relatively close when Pope kept out a close-range Toney header, but they had little else to show as they fell to a second straight defeat
"I think our performance was fantastic
 The first half, wow
 We could have been 3-0 up from normally Mr 100 per cent [Toney] and a marginal offside for the first goal, so what a performance there, in many, many ways
"Unfortunately it turned around in the second half with two moments from Newcastle, but even with that, we came back and put pressure on
 The players were fighting, running and giving everything, so huge credit to them for that
 It was definitely the margins that didn't go our way in this game, I must say that
 We 100 per cent deserved something from this game
"I think we started the second half fairly OK
 They changed a few players, but I don't think it was because of that; for me, it was two moments
 The second was quality from Isak, their sixty
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"I know when I cool down tomorrow and see that the sun does actually rise again, then I'll be proud of the performance and all the bits we have achieved
 When you're that close, you want that little bit more, but that's football
""It was a really tough game, as we knew it would be
 We didn't start particularly well, the first half wasn't pretty from our viewpoint
 Brentford put us under pressure
 I felt we were harshly treated with a couple of VAR decisions, but it was a great response from the group in the second half
"The second penalty, I'm not 100 per cent sure that is a clear and obvious error and the handball I think is really harsh on Callum because his hands are down by his side and he's got no reaction time
 I'm not sure on the laws of the game with handball now, but I thought they were two tough calls
"We changed things tactically, first and foremost [at half-time] and I think sometimes that can just give you a different dynamic
 I think it did and the group responded really well
 We gave them a few pointers as to things we felt we needed to change and do better, but what a character shining through the team
"Three games in six days is a huge physical effort and we were able to go again, lift ourselves and I thought we played really well in the second half
"Having won three of their first four league games against Newcastle (L1), Brentford have since gone winless in eight against the Magpies, losing seven of them (D1)
Brentford have failed to win a Premier League game in which they opened the scoring for the first time (P26 W19 D6 L1), while Newcastle have lost just one of their last five Premier League away games in which they have conceded first (W2 D2), winning the last two
Newcastle have now won exactly 100 Premier League points under Eddie Howe (P56 W28 D16 L12)
 Only Kevin Keegan in October 1994 (51 games) has needed fewer games to reach 100 points with the Magpies in the competition
Seven of Alexander Isak's eight Premier League goals this season have either drawn Newcastle level (2) or given them the lead (5), with his strike today against Brentford putting the Magpies 2-1 ahead
The business end of the season is very much upon us now and, contrary to what might have been expected at the start of the season, Newcastle are in the driving seat for Champions League qualification
Since the Premier League returned after the World Cup break in November, Howe's team had not delivered the same flamboyant results that had, at one point before it, catapulted them into title contention, yet they had stayed very much part of the conversation thanks to a newfound defensive steeliness
Now those hard yards have been done, they are exactly where they want to be after five straight league wins
 In this vein of form, to drop out of the top-four race altogether seems incredibly unlikely
It is easy to admire those five wins as though Newcastle have breezed their way here of late; Wednesday's thrashing away at West Ham was certainly more straightforward than the bulk of top-flight games are
 But they were made to work in west London
Had it not been for an offside call and the first penalty Ivan Toney had missed in five years, they could have been put to the sword before the break
 Of course, they were not punished by either of those incidents, but the warning signs were there - and they will learn from them
They started the second half with an urgency
 The bit was between their teeth from the word go and it appeared to be a potentially risky tactic, given the way Brentford had attacked in the first
 Yet the Bees themselves sat off twice and were punished twice as a result; only VAR prevented it from being three
The Toon are approaching the conclusion of what has been a monumental season in club history and, on this showing, their toils are surely worthy of a spot in European competition next year
visit in their next Premier League fixture on Saturday April 15
 Kick-off 3pm
's push for the top four continues at  next Saturday, Kick-off 12
30pm
April 15:  (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pmApril 22:  (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pmApril 26:  (A) - Premier League, kick-off 7
45pmApril 29:  (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pmMay 6:  (A) - Premier League, kick-off 5
30pm, live on May 13:  (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pmMay 20:  (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pmMay 28:  (H) - Premier League, kick-off 4
30pmApril 15: (A) - Premier League, kick-off 12
30pmApril 23:  (H) - Premier League, kick-off 2pm, live on April 27:  (A) - Premier League, kick-off 7