Newcastle United 3, Everton 2

MICHAEL Owen grabbed the winner on his return to the Newcastle first-team and in doing so booked his England starting place at Wembley against Estonia next weekend.

Eight days after undergoing the second of two operations to repair a problem which his manager Sam Allardyce insists is not a hernia, Owen was back in action and back scoring goals with his tenth in more than two years at St James Park.

While the game was all about Owen and what was in fact an international fitness test, the win will go down as a tactical masterstroke from Allardyce.

With 15 minutes remaining Newcastle were level and devoid of ideas or invention.

The introduction of Owen and, just as importantly, Emre, turned the game back in the Magpies favour with both substitutes on target.

Owen's fellow England striker - Andy Johnson - had cancelled out Nicky Butt's opener and Everton were seemingly in control of proceedings.

But Emre hit the goal of the game from 25 yards with four minutes remaining and then supplied the free-kick for Owen to make it 3-1.

Even an aberration from Shay Given who pushed Mikel Arteta's cross into his own goal couldn't take the shine off Owen's return to first-team action.

Owen was hoping to start but Allardyce made the decision to keep him in reserve and even a late calf injury to Mark Viduka couldn't persuade the manager.

He opted to play Alan Smith alongside Obafemi Martins up front and wielded the axe to the defence who played so badly at Manchester City the week before.

Out went Steven Taylor and David Rozehnal with Charles N'Zogbia pushed into midfield and in came Claudia Cacapa and Abdoulaye Faye in central defence with Jose Enrique introduced at left back.

The current thinking is that if Owen plays then Martins doesn't.

The Nigerian's predatory skills are not the same as Owen's and were found wanting as early as the fourth minute when a clever hooked through ball from Alan Smith put him one-on-one with Tim Howard.

He failed to attain the minimum requirement of hitting the target screwing his left-footed effort wide of the Everton goalkeeper's left hand post.

The problems caused by Victor Anichebe's physical presence - preferred to Ayegbeni Yakubu - were clear as early as the 12th minute when a speculative up and under from Tony Hibbert saw the striker all too easily outjump Given and direct a flick header that was cleared off the line by Faye.

Given's pleas for a foul fell on the deaf ears of referee Martin Atkinson.

If you want to see vibrant attacking football you'd typically steer clear of a Newcastle v Everton encounter but the opening quarter of the game contained just that.

N'Zogbia and Martins both tested Howard's reflexes as attacks switched quickly from one end to the other.

The encounter was clearly a little to quick for Butt whose crude sliding foul on Stephen Pienaar earned him a yellow card and both teams a breather while the Everton midfielder received treatment.

The break dramatically slowed the pace of proceedings that should have suited David Moyes' side after their Thursday night UEFA Cup exertions in the Ukraine.

But the visitors still showed they had pace in their ranks with Pienaar evading the Magpies defence forcing Given to save at his feet.

Newcastle were still creating chances and they finally converted one through an unlikely source in the 42nd minute.

Smith's cross should have been cleared by Joleon Lescott but he only managed to divert the ball into the path of Butt.

He broke through a weak challenge from his former Manchester United team-mate Phil Neville on the edge of the box before picking his spot and curling a right-foot effort beyond Howard.

At half-time it was encouraging to see Newcastle players on their way back from injury still having an important role to play - the Geordie Jackpot was drawn by Joey Barton who is targeting a return in the home game against Tottenham in a fortnight.

Less encouraging for home fans was the England striker who came off the bench at half-time to great effect - and it wasn't Owen.

Johnson replaced James McFadden and within seven minutes he had Everton level.

Pienaar played Leighton Baines in down the left and the full-back rode some half-hearted challenges before crossing for Johnson to force home on the line.

It appeared there was one side tiring and they hadn't won at FK Mentalist Khaki on Thursday night, arriving home at dawn on Friday morning.

Owen was stretching like a good 'un on the sidelines but with 25 minutes remaining Allardyce was refusing to turn to the England man.

After a further turgid ten minutes with Newcastle lacking the invention to create any clear chances Owen was introduced along with Emre.

But the next key moment came at the wrong end for Newcastle when Cacapa made a tremendous block on Anichebe with the striker seemingly destined to score.

With four minutes left Emre seized on a half-clearance to drive an excellent 25-yard effort into the corner of the net.

He then directed an excellent free kick from the touchline on to Owen's head with the striker crashing his effort in off the bar.