As much as Chelsea’s winning comeback at Cardiff on Sunday was celebrated on Tyneside, those goals could yet signal the end of Newcastle’s season.
From a nervy four points clear of danger as Cardiff led to the comfort of seven after Chelsea scored twice in the final six minutes.
That, you feel, makes the Magpies as good as safe, even if they only manage to scramble another couple of points in their final six matches.
And history tells us that could well be the way this campaign plays out. It was at the same stage last year that Rafa Benitez’s side marked the renewal of their top-flight status by losing four on the spin.
It is not that they downed tools, more that they no longer had the desperation and desire to chisel, hammer and file for every point.
They did not play badly here, but nor was there a sense of urgency, a sense of need. And that is the danger when your existence is based solely on survival.
It is why Benitez continues to stall on committing his future to the club beyond this summer.
He does not want this - a season spent as soon as the clocks spring forward, job done with owner Mike Ashley happy to raise a glass to another 12 months feeding from the Premier League cash cow.
Benitez wants his team to retain an interest at the business end of affairs, be that in a cup competition or challenging for Europe.
This season, much like last, has only been fun for the few months after the turn of the year when the stakes were high and the players responded.
At the Emirates they rarely threatened to reverse the outcome once Aaron Ramsey had opened the scoring.
The Three Amigos in attack - Salomon Rondon, Ayoze Perez and Miguel Almiron - were misfiring and, in the case of the latter, more is needed before he convinces of his worth, a club-record £21million.
And that could be significant in persuading Ashley to part with the funds for another sizeable investment, as Benitez wishes and will demand.
They have backed Benitez’s judgement on Almiron but, after a bright period, he has faded in recent matches.
The same could soon be said of Newcastle’s season.