BURNLEY look set for an increasingly uneasy end to their campaign after again letting a lead slip in defeat against Newcastle.

Matej Vydra had put the hosts in front in a big game at the bottom of the Premier League but Allan Saint-Maximin came off the bench to inspire the Magpies to a vital 2-1 victory.

The Frenchman came on with just over half an hour to play and first ran into the penalty area, drawing three defenders before pulling the ball back for Jacob Murphy to fire in an equaliser.

Bailey Peacock-Farrell, deputising for the injured Nick Pope in the Burnley goal, had enjoyed a relatively quiet afternoon to that point, but five minutes later he was picking the ball out of the net again as Saint-Maximin raced from the halfway line before finding the bottom corner.

The win lifted Newcastle six points clear of the relegation zone and just one behind the Clarets who were two goals to the good at Southampton before losing 3-2 in their previous game.

Sean Dyche’s side had been in control for the best part of an hour at Turf Moor but have now won just one of their last eight games.

For much of the afternoon they had looked in command against a Newcastle side short on confidence, going in front 18 minutes in.

Ciaran Clark’s poor header went straight to Ashley Westwood, and when he played it forward to Chris Wood the New Zealand forward beat Clark for pace before pulling it back for Vydra to score his third goal in five, having needed the previous 53 outings to reach the same tally.

Newcastle stirred in response. Dwight Gayle poked the ball into the net from an offside position – though it was closer than it first appeared given that Erik Pieters was down on the far side of the pitch.

Peacock-Farrell had been a spectator for much of the half but made a superb save to parry Gayle’s close-range header seven minutes before the break.

As the ball looped up, James Tarkowski went to boot it clear, catching Sean Longstaff in the head as he did so. VAR Stuart Attwell took a long look but ultimately agreed with referee Anthony Taylor that Tarkowski got to the ball first.

If Newcastle were aggrieved by that, they were also lucky not to be two down before the break, with Martin Dubravka reacting well to prevent a Paul Dummett own goal.

The second half started much as the first half had ended, with Dubravka tipping over shots from Matt Lowton and Dwight McNeil.

Bruce had seen enough, replacing Gayle and Joelinton with Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson, and the game quickly changed.

Burnley, stunned, tried to rally. Wood, looking for a fourth goal in four games, was teed up by Pieters but got his shot all wrong before Vydra fired into the side netting.

But it was Newcastle who came closest to adding to the scoring, and inevitably Saint-Maximin was the instigator again as he pulled the ball back for Miguel Almiron, whose shot was blocked by Tarkowski on the line.