The Magpies were in front with less than three minutes on the clock, as Christian Atsu - brought into the team to replace the suspended Matt Ritchie - struck for the first time at Gallowgate.

Yoan Gouffran had twice gone close to a second before he netted with the last action of the first half, coolly finding the far corner to give United a healthy advantage going into the break.

Cardiff improved after the restart, however, and pulled one back with a quarter of an hour remaining through substitute Peter Whittingham.

Having been forced to withstand a late fightback at Preston North End last week, it proved to be a case of déjà vu for the Magpies, who were made to work hard to secure an eighth successive win in all competitions.

Earlier on, however, they had got off to another flyer on home soil, as Atsu - making his first Championship start in almost a month - capped off a neat team move.

Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ayoze Perez exchanged passes on the edge of the area, before the former unselfishly played in the Ghanaian, who duly slotted beyond Cardiff 'keeper Ben Amos.

Just a couple of minutes later, United almost made it two. Jonjo Shelvey picked out Gouffran with a low-struck corner, and the winger's powerful right-footed effort flew just wide of the near post.

Buoyed by their recent form, Newcastle continued to dominate early on, with Paul Dummett and Shelvey both going close in quick succession.

After a marauding Mitrovic run, Perez played a neat ball through to the overlapping Dummett, who brought the best out of Amos from a tight angle.

The resultant corner was again played short by Shelvey. Perez came to meet it before rolling the ball back into the midfielder's path, and his curling strike was nodded clear by Sol Bamba at the last moment.

Midway through the first half, the Bluebirds registered their first shot at goal. Craig Noone made headway down United's right, but his venomous effort failed to test Karl Darlow.

Neil Warnock's side were awarded a controversial corner on the half-hour mark, with Junior Hoilett's delivery having seemingly rolled straight out of play. The Canadian swung an inviting ball into the six-yard area, but the rising Bamba could only nod wide of the near post.

The visitors appeared to be tightening up as the half wore on, but, with the interval looming, they were undone for a second time.

DeAndre Yedlin played in Gouffran with a precise threaded pass, and the Frenchman made no mistake from eight yards, rifling beyond Amos to net his fourth goal of the season.

After the break, Rafa Benitez's charges looked to pick up where they left off. On 48 minutes, Isaac Hayden cleared the crossbar with a powerful effort from range, before Gouffran nodded narrowly wide after a one-two with Shelvey.

The Bluebirds - unbeaten away from home since Warnock's appointment last month - then came close to halving the deficit. Noone pounced on Atsu's misplaced pass before teeing up Rickie Lambert, but the former Liverpool frontman failed to hit the target from a promising position.

Mitrovic then squandered a golden chance to put Newcastle further into the ascendancy, side-footing wide from an unmarked position after a low Dummett cross.

Quick-fire opportunities for the visitors came and went midway through the second half. Lambert - looking to atone for his earlier miss - drilled wide after gathering Kieran Richardson's pass, before Noone's looping effort dropped just off-target.

A hat-trick of substitutions helped Cardiff's cause, however, and - less than five minutes after coming on - Whittingham struck to set up another tense finale.

Marouane Chamakh - a replacement for Lambert - broke into the Magpies' area, and the ball eventually trickled out for Whittingham, who smashed home first-time from 18 yards.

Though they continued to enjoy more of the ball, it wasn't until the second minute of injury time that Cardiff created another opportunity of note.

Aron Gunnarsson's throw-in was flicked on by captain Sean Morrisson, but Hoilett - hovering at the back post - failed to keep his effort down.

That was as close as the Bluebirds came to spoiling the party on "Legends Day" at Gallowgate, as the Magpies held out to open up a six-point lead at the top of the table.