Newcastle United came out on top of the Tyne-Tees derby thanks to goals from Marlon Harewood and Shola Ameobi.
The Toon opened up a 10 point gap at the top of the table with the victory over their North East rivals Middlesbrough.
The game wasn't the most exciting, but the Geordies did play some good stuff, the partnership of Jonas Gutierrez and Jose Enrique down the left was quite impressive as they tore open the Boro defence at will.
On paper the Teesiders have a few quality players with the likes of Leroy Lita, Dave Kitson and Gary O'Neill who have all played their trade in the top tier at some point.
However none were able to impose themselves on the game and caused little trouble for a solid United defence, who kept their 14th clean sheet of the season.
Harewood bundled the ball in to the net, as Boro keeper Brad Jones made a mess of collecting the ball from a Newcastle free kick.
Middlesbrough should have equalised when Isaiah Osbourne's shot was blocked on the line by Steven Taylor's arm. The ref failed to spot it and the Geordie defender got away with it.
United's second was a simple header by Ameobi, though the cross for the goal was a sublime one by Danny Guthrie.
Top of the table and bragging rights, what more could you want for Christmas.
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