No doubt in private, Joe Kinnear, the interim manager of Newcastle United, will have a few colourful turns of phrase to describe what happened last night, most particularly the moment in the first half when Rob Styles, the referee, gave a controversial penalty to Manchester City and showed a red card to Habib Beye, his right back, but the clean version is this: despite the crashing disappointment of a late Stephen Ireland equaliser, in the two-week international break Kinnear has effected a transformation at a club who appeared to be making their spiritual home at rock-bottom.

This was a point against the odds, given the unique circumstances on the field and off. While those odds would appear to have been stacked against Newcastle for some time, in Kinnear they have found a manager well versed in kicking against the pricks, and there are plenty of those about, he might say, if he was not now on best behaviour at press conferences.

He would be tempted to start with the man in the middle, had Styles not agreed to look again at the Beye sending-off, having reduced Newcastle to ten men after 14 minutes in debatable circumstances. It was Styles who gave a penalty last month against Jlloyd Samuel, of Bolton Wanderers, for what many regarded as the best tackle of the game on Cristiano Ronaldo, the Manchester United forward, and many will argue he did the same here.

To these eyes, and many others, Beye was guilty of nothing more sinister than stopping Robinho with a superbly timed challenge in testing circumstances. It was a huge risk to attempt a sliding tackle on the Brazil forward at full pelt, but Beye pulled it off only for Styles, who was trailing the play by some distance, to award a penalty and dismiss him. The locals were incensed and made their disgust clear in howls of protest at any perceived injustice that followed, deafening the officials with boos at half-time as they made their way to the sanctuary of the dressing-room. As Kinnear diplomatically acknowledged, however, it was not as simple as that.

The pass from Shaun Wright-Phillips that put Robinho clear was a peach and created a goalscoring opportunity, so in that respect if Styles saw a foul by Beye, then, observing the letter of the law, the red card was justified. The debate hinges on whether it was a foul and, beyond that, whether the letter of the law is an ass in these circumstances and a penalty is not punishment enough for challenges that are merely misjudged, not malicious.

There is a case for Beye as the hapless victim of a miscarriage of justice, and a case for Styles having made a tough call, and having got it right. In Beye’s favour, he did look to have hooked the ball away from Robinho cleanly, a split second before the force of his tackle sent the Brazilian sprawling. Against this, as Graham Poll, the former Premier League referee, pointed out, getting the ball does not automatically make a tackle fair if, in doing so, a player cleans out his opponent.

In clipping the ball from Robinho’s feet, it was hard to say with certainty, and in real time, whether Beye made it unavoidable that the Brazilian should fall. Certainly, the Newcastle supporters who angrily accused Robinho of cheating were plain wrong. He did not dive, and falling to the ground was not his choice but a direct result of the force of Beye’s challenge. What is interesting is how Styles will view the incident with hindsight and the benefit of television replays, now Newcastle have appealed against the red card. If he admits to an error, having already confessed over the penalty against Samuel, he may face further action from the FA. He escaped last time, but a second blunder may be too much.

It was remarkable that, in an echo of Tottenham Hotspur’s brief revival away to Stoke City on Sunday, Newcastle came to life only after they went down to ten men. Before the dismissal, they had looked unable to cope with Manchester City’s pace, particularly that of Wright-Phillips, who looks more South American than some of the Brazilians. From the kick-off, almost a minute passed before a Newcastle player touched the ball and, after Styles awarded the penalty, the way Robinho stepped up, worked a dummy into his run, and stuck his kick smartly and perfectly out of the reach of Shay Given, the goalkeeper, seemed to sum up the gulf between the teams. It is to Newcastle’s immense credit, and that of Kinnear, that they contrived to take this giant reversal of fortune and turn it somehow to their advantage.

In Kinnear’s favour, he did not take the conservative route by dropping a striker back to bolster the midfield or, worse, removing a striker to add an extra defender. He simply switched Gérémi to right back, kept three in midfield working their socks off and played 4-3-2, with Obafemi Martins dogging between the frontline and a wide position. Despite the fortuitous nature of the goals, he deserved everything he subsequently got, with the exception of the kick in the teeth from Ireland with five minutes to go.

Newcastle are still without a Premier League win since August 23, and that is relegation form, but equally, despite the meagre reward, this could yet be seen as the turning point, particularly if victory follows in the North East derby against Sunderland at the weekend. In essence, City got away with it. Their expensive cast of Brazilians were not prepared for something as brutally ferocious as this, one of those performances that sits perfectly with the ethos of the Premier League, despite its brashness and flashness.

If Kinnear has picked this team from the floor in recent weeks, last night the players did it for themselves. Shola Ameobi, the man of the match, equalised before half-time, after two ricochets presented the ball at his feet. His sliced finished was his first goal for the club since October 2006 - six managers ago, including caretakers. In the second half, a spectacular own goal from Richard Dunne, after a corner by Gérémi, should have given Newcastle three points.

In the end, tiredness told and, despite substitutions that emphasised a need for defence, Newcastle’s ten men looked overstretched as the second half wore on. Given made a brilliant save from Ireland, two minutes before the midfield player was put clear by a fine pass from Robinho and made no mistake. Kinnear looked furious but was calm and softly spoken when he faced the media. He no longer behaves like the pressured manager of a club in crisis and, if he carries on like this, maybe he soon won’t be.