Match Analysis: Newcastle United 3-3 Crystal Palace

Wilfried Zaha came off the bench to help Crystal Palace snatch a last-gasp equaliser in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Newcastle United at St James' Park.

A Rolando Aarons-inspired Newcastle looked poised for victory after Mike Williamson fired them ahead for the first time in the game on 89 minutes.

However, Zaha blasted a dramatic equaliser past Tim Krul in the closing stages as the Eagles salvaged a well-deserved point in Neil Warnock's first game back at the club.

Here, Sports Mole has a closer look at what proved a pulsating 90 minutes in the North East.

Match statistics

Newcastle Shots: 13 On target: 4 Possession: 65% Corners: 11 Fouls: 12

Crystal Palace Shots: 11 On target: 7 Possession: 35% Corners: 4 Fouls: 19

Was the result fair?

Without a shadow of a doubt. Defeat for either side would have been a terrible outcome to what was a very even encounter. Newcastle boss Alan Pardew looked a little miffed when the fourth official showed seven minutes of injury time but, once the smokes settles, he will find it hard to begrudge Palace their point.

Newcastle performance

Pardew will not be happy with Newcastle's overall display. They conceded at the beginning of both halves and wasted a staggering amount of set-piece opportunities throughout a very mixed opening 45 minutes. It was not until the introduction of Aarons that Newcastle upped their game significantly, as the 18-year-old winger headed home to make it 2-2 on 74 minutes, before providing the shot which Williamson eventually bundled over the line in the dying stages of normal time.

Crystal Palace performance

What a way for Warnock to mark his second coronation as Crystal Palace boss. After his appointment during the week, he will be delighted with the overall display. Conceding three times in his first game does not bode too well, but he can still draw plenty of positives, particularly from second-half substitute Zaha, who really thrived in his first game back in a Palace shirt and netted the all-important equaliser.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Rolando Aarons: Despite coming on in the 67th and 70th minute respectively, it was a clear toss-up between Aarons and Zaha, both of whom injected such excitement and energy into a match which threatened to fizzle out. However, with a goal and an assist under his belt, Aarons gets the nod and showed just why he is so highly thought of on Tyneside.

Biggest gaffe

Perhaps Remy Cabella for a series of really poor set-piece deliveries that were far too easy for the Palace defence and goalkeeper Julian Speroni to deal with. The Frenchman will be kept behind after training next week to work on these areas.

Referee performance

It would have been a shame had Mike Jones emerged from a six-goal thriller as one of the talking points, but he did little wrong throughout the 90 minutes and he got all four bookings spot on. Stellar performance.

What next?

Newcastle: The Magpies have a fortnight to assess today's shortcomings, with a trip to Southampton coming after the international break.

Crystal Palace: Palace, meanwhile, host newly-promoted Burnley at Selhurst Park on September 13.