Newcastle Hub: West Ham 0 Newcastle 0 Newcastle saw out a goalless draw with West Ham ...

PUBLISHED: 10:51 EST, 4 May 2013 | UPDATED: 04:36 EST, 5 May 2013

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew hit out at the controversial decision which could ultimately cost his team their Premier League status.

If Sunderland and Wigan perform to their potential during the week, his United could be forced down into the bottom three by the time they play again. Technically, their immediate fate is out of their hands.

Pardew felt his side had shown enough courage to ram the rumours of dressing-room unrest back down the throats of those who had circulated them.

Agony: Papiss Cisse sees his shot cleared off the line during today's match

Battle: Mohamed Diame (left) vies for the ball with Cheick Tiote during today's Premier League clash

Match facts

West Ham: Jaaskelainen, Demel (Taylor 80), Collins, Reid, O'Brien, Diame, O'Neil, Vaz Te (Collison 58), Nolan, Jarvis (Joe Cole 84), Carroll.

Subs Not Used: Henderson, Carlton Cole, Noble, Pogatetz.

Booked: O'Brien.

Newcastle: Elliot, Simpson, Steven Taylor, Coloccini, Yanga-Mbiwa, Ben Arfa (Ameobi 65), Cabaye, Tiote, Gouffran (Gosling 76), Gutierrez, Cisse.

Subs Not Used: Harper, Williamson, Anita, Perch, Campbell.

Booked: Tiote.

Attendance: 34,962

Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire).

Latest Premier League results, fixtures and table

But that did not detract from his sense of injustice.

‘We’ve had a legitimate goal chalked off,’ complained Pardew, recalling a first-half strike from Papiss Cisse.

‘I thought it was over the line and I saw the linesman slip over and that worried me. I asked the assistant and he told me it wasn’t over, but how could he see? I saw the reaction of the West Ham players and that tells you a lot.’

The controversial incident came in the 20th minute, when Cisse broke clear on the left and turned his finish past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

As the ball trickled slowly towards goal, Hammers defender Winston Reid seemed to take an eternity to come to the rescue. By the time he swiped away his clearance, the ball appeared to have crossed the line.

Has goal-line technology come too late for Newcastle? When reminded it is due to be introduced next season, Pardew replied bitterly: ‘Thanks for reminding me.’

West Ham assistant manager Neil McDonald — Newcastle born and bred — insisted: ‘It was very, very close, but I didn’t think it was over the line.’

Collision course: Andy Carroll (centre) careers into West Ham team-mate Ricardo Vaz Te (left)

Concern: Alan Pardew's side could yet be relegated from the Barclays Premier League

Premier League table

There was little chance of referee Phil Dowd keeping up with that particular phase of play.

And when West Ham fans sang ‘You’re too fat to referee’ during a lull in the second-half action, the Staffordshire official decided to conduct the singing himself.

You wondered whether anyone was taking Newcastle’s plight quite as seriously as their worried fans?

Newcastle manager Pardew, formerly of West Ham, had already waved to the wrong set of supporters, albeit on request.

‘I enjoyed my time here, it was just to say hello,’ he said, a little sheepishly. It would have been even more amusing had the Premier League future of a proud city club like Newcastle not been left hanging by a thread.

Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot was left stranded during another Hammers raid in the ninth minute, but Steven Taylor calmly cleared up the mess behind him, while Kevin Nolan’s overhead kick was blocked before it could gather momentum.

Out of Toon: West Ham captain Kevin Nolan faces his former club on Saturday

Remember me: Andy Carroll tussles for the ball as he faces childhood club Newcastle at Upton Park

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce clearly wasn’t satisfied with what he had seen in the first half and West Ham came out fighting after the interval. Fabricio Coloccini was lucky to get away with a nudge of the advancing Ricardo Vaz Te in the penalty area.

But otherwise the Hammers’ attacks relied far too heavily on the aerial prowess of Andy Carroll, who was trying to impress England manager Roy Hodgson’s assistant Ray Lewington. Carroll headed towards goal but saw his efforts blocked; he headed wide, he headed on, he headed backwards, he even missed one header completely. But none of his impressive leaps led to a goal and fans of 21st-century football cried out for a little variation.

Carroll was stretching for another far-post header when Danny Simpson nudged him out of the way, but it would have been generous to award Carroll a penalty when he employs similar tactics so often.

Kevin Nolan reminded us that feet can also be used for attempts on goal. But when he shot twice in quick succession, Elliot managed to block both efforts.

In black and white: Newcastle are three points clear of Wigan but have played one game more

Matt Jarvis forced the busy Elliot to turn another fizzing effort away from the top corner. And even Carroll showed some trickery on the ground to turn cleverly before forcing yet another save from Elliot.

You could not fault Carroll and Nolan, the former Newcastle men, for trying. ‘I think Carroll does deserve an England call-up, he puts defenders under so much pressure,’ said McDonald.

But it was hard to escape the suspicion that he and Nolan were not overly upset to have avoided scoring a goal which might have gone some way to consigning their old club to relegation.

Angry: Sam Allardyce vents his frustration as West Ham fail to break the deadlock against Newcastle

At the other end, Yohan Cabaye and Shola Ameobi went close with speculative efforts, but the best opportunity fell to Yoan Gouffran. Vacating his goal on a crazy excursion, Jaaskelainen was beaten to the ball by Gouffran, who failed to turn the ball into an empty net. Sure, the angle was challenging, but this is the Premier League and Newcastle need the points.

Will one prove enough? ‘Wigan winning puts extra pressure on us and all those around us,’ Pardew admitted. But he was more bullish when he concluded: ‘We were terrific in the first half and rolled up our sleeves in the second to dispel some of the spiteful myths that there is a rift in the dressing room.’

They will need to show even more guts — and have a little more luck — to ensure survival.