Michael Owen passed up the chance to fire Newcastle to a potentially life-saving victory as Alan Shearer was left staring down the barrel of a gun after a 0-0 draw with Portsmouth.
The 29-year-old striker was denied by veteran goalkeeper David James' legs after he was played in by Mark Viduka 63 minutes into a pulsating encounter, which both sides had chances to win.
James had earlier saved from Damien Duff, and Viduka and Obafemi Martins both went close on a night when the Magpies needed all three points to rekindle their hopes of Barclays Premier League survival.
However, it might have been even worse for Shearer's men with Peter Crouch firing straight at Steve Harper with 11 minutes remaining and Richard Hughes heading against the foot of the post three minutes later.
Shearer had set his side the task of winning their remaining three home games to drag themselves out of relegation trouble but, having fallen at the first hurdle, they now face the daunting prospect of having to get something at Liverpool on Sunday.
The 38-year-old made a series of statements ahead of kick-off when he named all three of his big-name strikers - Owen, Viduka and Martins - in his starting line-up and left Kevin Nolan and Ryan Taylor, two of the three men signed during yet another disastrous January transfer window, out of the 18.
He had appealed in advance for passionate support from the stands and he got just that, with the help of a rousing rendition of Blaydon Races from opera star Graeme Danby moments before kick-off.
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