A fine Newcastle display saw them cruise to a 4-1 victory against Stoke and into the FA Cup fourth round.

Newcastle find their form in front of new manager

A fine Newcastle display saw them cruise to a 4-1 victory against Stoke in front of the watching Kevin Keegan and into an FA Cup fourth round date with Arsenal. Michael Owen gave the Magpies the lead after just eight minutes when he stabbed home a James Milner knock down from inside the six yard box. Keegan missed the England striker's opener, but he was in his seat to see Emre dismissed for a nasty challenge on John Eustace on the half-hour mark. The sending off did little to dent the Geordies' confidence though and Claudio Cacapa doubled their lead just a minute later when he met Charles N'Zogbia's corner to plant a firm header past Steve Simonsen in the Stoke goal. Not prepared to settle for two Newcastle continued to press after the break and grabbed a third on 68 minutes through Milner's low drive. Damien Duff then scored his first since his return from injury on 76 minutes when he coolly slotted past Simonsen as Newcastle took advantage of Stoke pushing too many men forward. Liam Lawrence did curl in a fine consolation for the visitors in stoppage time, but the night belonged to Newcastle and in particular their returning hero Keegan.

New era

Newcastle rediscovered their killer touch as Kevin Keegan strode back into St James' Park to herald yet another new era. The former player and manager took his seat in the directors' box 20 minutes after kick-off and at times it seemed as if he had never been away as the club's players threw off the shackles of Sam Allardyce's reign to take Stoke apart. True, they will face far stronger opposition in the Barclays Premier League this season, and will face Bolton on Saturday with midfielders Emre, Alan Smith and Nicky Butt suspended. But it was the manner in which they dealt with the Coca-Cola Championship promotion contenders in front of an ecstatic crowd which will have pleased Keegan and beaming owner Mike Ashley.

Irrelevant

In truth, the game for all but caretaker boss Nigel Pearson and his players had been rendered largely irrelevant by the news of Keegan's appointment, which broke shortly before 4.30pm. Such was the desire to share in a significant night on Tyneside kick-off had to be delayed by 15 minutes as fans flocked to buy tickets in the wake of the announcement that Keegan was on his way back. Allardyce ultimately paid the price for not producing the required levels of excitement, but it was in abundant supply once again from the off.

Owen opener

Stoke started in confident mood and Magpies keeper Shay Given had to save from Lawrence and Ricardo Fuller within five minutes of the start. However, Owen settled the nerves by curling a sixth-minute effort just over the bar at the other end, and then struck decisively when his chance arrived two minutes later. Milner saw his header from Duff's cross blocked at the far post but the England international, who had gone eight games without a goal for his club, made no mistake from close range.

Keegan arrives

Keegan duly made his way into the directors' box along with Ashley and chairman Chris Mort to rapturous applause and Owen had the ball in the net once again before the returning manager had got his bearings, although an offside flag halted his celebrations. Newcastle were dominating with Duff and Emre forcing saves from Steve Simonsen in quick succession, although the Turkey