It was the not the most powerful shot, but its placement was perfect, clipping the inside of the post, although goalkeeper Tim Krul was perhaps caught a little flat-footed.
The goal took the fizz out of Newcastle’s support, although the Magpies enjoyed the their best five minutes after going behind, Papiss Demba Cisse denied by a superb save from Simon Mignolet as he dashed off his line before making a low save at full-stretch to keep out the same player.
At the other end, Danny Graham, a Newcastle fan, was causing problems for his marker Mapou-Yanga-Mbiwa with his back to goal and could have scored a second for the Black Cats but his shot on the turn was weak.
Sunderland had even better opportunity to extend their lead before the break when Carlos Cuellar put a free header from a Seb Larsson corner straight at Krul.
In stoppage time at the end of the half, a miss-hit cross from Gutierrez almost made a amends for his earlier blunder, but Mignolet managed to turn it round the post.
Newcastle flew at their neighbours like an angry cat looking to scratch out the eyes of a rival. They had the ball in the net in that period, Papiss Cisse smashing home a flick from Moussa Sissoko, only for it be wrongly ruled out by an offside flag.
Hatem Ben Arfa also missed a great chance with a close range header, but then came Johnson’s strike on the break.
Still Newcastle believed they could get back into it, but when Sessegnon left the woeful Cheick Tiote for dead, he fed David Vaughan, who smashed a rising shot into the top corner to spark bedlam in the away dugout and despair among the home fans.
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