Newcastle United have missed the chance to move four points clear at the top of the Championship table courtesy of a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday this evening.
Glenn Loovens scored the only goal of the game for Carlos Carvahal's visitors as Wednesday made it three wins in a row to move four points clear of seventh-placed Fulham.
Newcastle came within inches of breaking the deadlock after just 12 minutes when Dwight Gayle - the Championship's top scorer with 17 goals this season - raced through down the left channel before seeing his powerful effort tipped onto the woodwork by Keiren Westwood.
The hosts had another clear chance five minutes later, but this time neither the keeper nor the frame of the goal was needed as Ciaran Clark failed to hit the target despite being left unmarked from a corner.
Clark sent another header wide midway through the half before Karl Darlow made the first of what would become a string of fine saves, reacting sharply to turn Steven Fletcher's shot over the crossbar.
Darlow was called into action again moments later when a corner dropped at the feet of Fernando Forestieri, but the Newcastle keeper made the save before clawing the rebound away from the lurking Sheffield Wednesday striker.
Wednesday suddenly had the wind in their sails, though, and they had another good opportunity for the opening goal shortly before the half-hour mark when Liam Palmer fired over with Darlow bearing down on him.
Neither side could break the deadlock before the interval, though, and Darlow did his best to ensure it would be a similar story in the second half when he made another fine stop to deny Fletcher from point-blank range.
The Newcastle keeper again appeared to be the hero with yet another stunning save from a corner in the 53rd minute, but this time the ball deflected to a Wednesday player, who put it back in the middle for Loovens to nod home his first goal for the club on his 100th start.
The Magpies quickly went in search of an equaliser and almost found one shortly after the hour mark when Yoann Gouffran latched on to Jack Colback's cross, but his glancing header ended up narrowly past the far post.
Darlow had been the busier of the two keepers, but Westwood made important contributions of his own and reacted well to tip a powerful Christian Atsu effort over the crossbar with just 15 minutes remaining.
Newcastle's pressure increased as the clock ticked towards 90 and Aleksandar Mitrovic almost made a telling impact within minutes of coming on as a sub when he met a corner with a soaring header, but once again Westwood was equal to it.
The hosts were given six minutes of injury time to try to find a winner, but Wednesday successfully saw the game out to pick up a valuable victory in the playoff chase.
Newcastle, meanwhile, will be knocked off top spot if Brighton & Hove Albion beat Queens Park Rangers at the Amex Stadium tomorrow.
Barney Corkhill
