Victorious Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan backed Michael Owen's England cause after watching him seal a first win since his return to St James' Park.
The 28-year-old glanced home an 83rd-minute Geremi free-kick to ensure all three points were banked for the first time since December 15 as the Magpies completed a double over Fulham.
Mark Viduka had fired the home side into a sixth-minute lead, but a side which had not won in 13 attempts in the Barclays Premier League made hard work of it before Owen also demonstrated his potency to kill off any prospect of a fightback.
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The win left Newcastle in 13th place in the table, six points clear of the drop zone, although with work still to be done.
However, Keegan is confident the quality of his marksmen, and that of Owen in particular at a time when the speculation is that international boss Fabio Capello is not his biggest fan, will see them through.
Keegan said: "People keep questioning all sorts of things with these great players, but they can answer them.
"Michael probably answered a few critics again today - and there are plenty out there, from what I am seeing.
"But the players always get the chance to do that on the football field. People can write what they want, but as a journalist, you have got to sit there and write what you see and today, you saw someone totally committed.
"He has led this team fantastically. He is a great skipper, not because of all the things he shouts, but because of the example he shows.
"He is a team player - we have asked him to play a different role and it is not, 'Oh, well it's not what I do', it is, 'Yes, I will do that', and he is playing it very, very well.
"I have said all the time what I think of Michael Owen. He would certainly be in most people's England side.
"What he needs is to be at a club which is successful and scores goals. Today, he is at a club that has been successful on the day and he has scored a goal.
"He is definitely in form. This idea that Michael is not as sharp as he was has been dispelled this week with his finish at Birmingham, where the one thing you think of when he scored that goal is sharpness, and today again against another committed side.
"Michael will just keep doing what he does. By all means criticise when they are not doing well, but praise them when they are."
Owen could have helped himself to a second goal in as many games before the break, only to head straight at Kasey Keller, but made no mistake when presented with his late opportunity.
The final whistle sparked delirious celebrations on Tyneside and left Keegan with a smile on his face as he planned a night out with his wife for the first time in weeks.
He said: "Whilst it doesn't mean we are not still in some danger, it just takes the pressure off everyone at the club.
"The players' attitude has been questioned, my ability as a manager has been questioned, but that's what you leave yourself open for if you don't get results.
"But more than anything, it just gives everyone around the club a boost, everyone, the supporters, the players, the staff. It gives everyone a boost.
"But we have still got a lot of work to do. We have had a good week - by our recent standards, we have had a great week."
A 32nd consecutive away league game without a victory left Fulham deep in trouble but manager Roy Hodgson far from ready to throw in the towel.
He said: "We were two points behind Bolton and we are now three points; Birmingham, who were four points ahead of us at the start of the day are still four points ahead.
"We have got seven games to play. But it was a significant move for Sunderland with their excellent win at Aston Villa, so we have lost touch with them.
"But having said that, seven matches, a lot of things can happen. We have got to keep believing that our football can get us out of this situation and we have got to hope that the things that didn't go right for us today, we can put right."
A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £41.20 ON PORTSMOUTH v FULHAM
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Sunday afternoon's Premiership clash between Portsmouth v Fulham, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 3.00pm and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £41.20, whatever the result of the match. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions below and then sit back and enjoy the game. At full-time, you will be at least £41.20 better off, whatever the result of the match.
We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.
You can still do this if you have a Betfair account but your overall profit will be reduced by £25.00 as you won't receive the £25.00 cashback as an existing account holder.
If you are unsure about this bet, you are most welcome to call us on 01642 223229 and we will help you as much as we can.
We're going to lay out a total of £71.00 on the Portsmouth v Fulham match and we will collect £115.00 if Portsmouth win, £112.20 if Fulham win and £114.13 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 58%, a much higher interest rate than you will get in any high street bank.
Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.
1. Open an account with Coral. It is really important that you enter the bonus code of CORALTD when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of BFB425 when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Place £20.00 on Portsmouth at 3.00 (2/1) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on Portsmouth as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on Portsmouth.
Back the draw with £25.00 at 3.7 (11/4) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £26.00 on Fulham at 2.2 (6/5) with Extrabet.
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £51.00 riding on Fulham.
The £25.00 matched bet will not show in your account but you can read all about how it works on the Extrabet site. It's the purple box that says '£25 FREE BET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS' on the top right hand side. Click here to visit the Extrabet site.
If you are unsure about placing these bets, please feel free to mail us or call us on 01642 223229 and we will talk you through it, no problem at all. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
You have temporarily laid out a total of £71.00 on the Portsmouth v Fulham match. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open and enjoy the match.
4. Here's what happens at the end of the game.
If Portsmouth win, you collect £115.00. That's £90.00 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw, you collect £114.13. That's £89.13 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Fulham win you collect £112.20. That's £87.20 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Portsmouth v Fulham match is Fulham win and you make £41.20 profit. However, if it is a draw you make £43.13 and if Portsmouth win you make £44.00. That's a minimum profit of 58%, a much better rate of interest that you would get at any high street bank or building society.
6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the two bookies and enter the correct bonus codes or you may not qualify for the bonuses.
Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know by mail or phone us on 01642 223229 and we will rework the bet for you.
Please feel free to contact us or phone us on 01642 223229 if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will help you as much as we can.
Please note that the bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, mail us or phone us on 01642 223229 and we'll create an alternative bet for you using different bookies.
This method of betting was used very successfully during the 2006 World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.
We guarantee this bet
It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that we have been publishing arbitrage bets for four seasons now and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.
Only twice has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.
Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.
That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.
The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.
