Mikel Merino grabbed his first Newcastle goal to scramble a late win.
The Spain U21 star nodded home a Matt Ritchie corner five minutes from time.
Roy Hodgson’s Palace, fresh from their first win of the season last week were close to a hard fought draw.
But Merino, on as a late sub, opened his United account, a week after making his loan move from Dortmund into a £8m permanent deal.
Julian Speroni only had two saves to make before United’s goal, in a well organised Palace display in which Andros Townsend was excellent.
The win pushed Newcastle into the top six, and kept Palace rooted to the bottom of the league.
Goalless
Plenty of firey moments but not a lot else.
0-0 is a pretty good away result for Palace.
Hopefully some chances soon.
Rafa Benitez has told potential Newcastle owners that the club has major untapped potential.
The Magpies’ manager knows the current takeover talk has “excited” fans, and reckons he leads “one of the top sides in England”.
He has held meetings with his scouts this week, who are drawing up a list of targets to pursue if the club has significant cash to spend in January — and another plan in case they don’t have much.
Asked whether Newcastle could be boosted by a takeover to end the unpopular Mike Ashley’s ownership, boss Benitez said: “It’s one of the top sides in England if you put everything together.
“The question is, is it reaching its level? Obviously, no. Can we do it? I think so.
“We have to do everything right. It’s not just if you have money, you have to have the right players with the right mentality coming here.
Asked what Newcastle’s level could be with investment and ambition, the La Liga, Europa League and European Cup winner said: “A higher level than we are at the moment.”