Late Cisse intervention eases the pressure on Pardew

Until then the atmosphere in the stadium had been far tamer than expected; the anti-Alan Pardew protests hyped up on social media all week proved half-hearted .

Suddenly a largely neutral mood threatened to turn ugly. High in the stands Mike Ashley, Newcastle's owner, folded his arms and Pardew's body language appeared edgy.

Cometh the hour cometh the man. When Cisse fractured a kneecap in April he was set to be sidelined until Christmas. Despite subsequently chasing the clock down the Senegal striker only returned to training five days ago.

When Pardew told his medical staff he would be on the bench they were deeply unhappy but overruled. As Cisse stripped for action heads were shaken. It seemed not so much a high stakes gamble as a manager possibly playing his final, desperate, card but substitutions can rarely have proved as transformative.

It did not take long for the supposed convalescent to score twice, thereby not only diluting the digruntlement festering beneath the game's surface but earning a previously unlikely point. The No9's intervention may well have saved his manager's job.

A rather odd afternoon began with some Newcastle fans applauding Steve Bruce as the visiting manager entered the ground's main reception. As displays of disloyalty go, serenading a rival boss takes some beating but the atmosphere inside the stadium proved somewhat less mutinous.

Admittedly there were odd chants of "We want Pardew out" and some jeering when he trapped a loose ball but it was all kindergarten stuff.

The Jonas Gutierrez factor perhaps contributed to this slightly uneasy calm. In a bid to bolster the morale of the left winger, who is receiving treatment for testicular cancer in Argentina, Newcastle's players ran out wearing identical shirts all bearing the number 18 and the name Jonas.

The crowd responded with their own tribute - sustained clapping in the 18th minute. Sixty seconds earlier there had been more of the same - in recognition of John Alder and Liam Sweeney, the two Newcastle fans who died when flight MH17 was shot down.

Against such a backdrop there were clearly mixed feelings about the ethics and perceived pettiness of attempting to engineer the manager's ousting. Moreover Newcastle were actually playing quite well. Cheick Tiote, particularly, was excellent.

Newcastle's problems were in the final third where Emmanuel Riviere as lone striker, rarely troubled Allan McGregor.

It was far from vintage Hull but Bruce seemed happy enough with his team's containment policy and their patient approach was rewarded early in the second half.

Jack Colback lingered in possession, Mohamed Diame stole the ball before backheeling to Ahmed Elmohamady whose cross brought out the very best in Nikica Jelavic. The striker's sublime volleyed scissor kick was far too good for Tim Krul.

But then Tiote conceded possession and Diame took full advantage, turning Daryl Janmaat before crashing a stupendous shot past Krul.

On came Cisse and everything changed. Atoning for his earlier mistake Tiote played in the No9 who unleashed a low shot which squeezed just inside a post.

Bruce switched from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2 and Cisse sensed further opportunity. When Yoan Gouffran headed Moussa Sissoko's cross back into the box the unattended striker lashed the ball past McGregor. Finally, Alan Pardew smiled.

Observer