Alan Shearer turned in a captain's display to fire Newcastle to victory in their Champions League showdown with Charlton.

The 33-year-old headed home the opener just 57 seconds into a crucial game and then added a second - his 22nd of the season - 14 minutes from time after Dean Kiely had saved his penalty.

United had been cruising at the break after Jermaine Jenas had got a block on a 35th-minute Luke Young clearance and seen the ball fly into the net.

But, after Aaron Hughes limped off and Sir Bobby Robson was forced to re-organise his defence, they turned in an edgy display which was in stark contrast to their first-half performance.

Claus Jensen pulled one back nine minutes after the restart and the visitors twice hit the post in a late flurry to leave the home fans among a crowd of 51,847 biting their fingernails as time ran down.

Shearer, however, was once again the hero as his rugged individual display in the face of severe provocation from Chris Perry was rewarded with goals and the knowledge that his side is once again back in the mix for the big prize.

Having seen Liverpool snatch a late winner against relegation-haunted Wolves at Anfield, Newcastle knew that victory was the only option if they are to taste Champions League football once again next season.

And they were desperate to lay down the gauntlet to Alan Curbishley's European upstarts as soon as possible.

Shearer, in particular, was like a man possessed in the early stages, rattling cages to such an extent that Perry earned himelf a 36th-minute booking for a dreadful lunge from behind on the United skipper and was left walking a tightrope thereafter.

However, by then - and more precisely, with just 57 seconds gone - the damage had already been done.

Shearer got his head to a driven Laurent Robert cross to send a header, by no means a vintage one, past Kiely and into the net.

Gary Speed and Shola Ameobi, the latter playing in place of the injured Craig Bellamy, both went close with headers as United dominated with Speed and central midfield partner Jenas enjoying the kind of superiority in the middle of the park which they did so often last season.

For their part, Charlton played some neat football with Paolo Di Canio and Claus Jensen looking the most likely to create an opening, but Shay Given had only one anxious moment when midfielder Radostin Kishishev drove a powerful shot into the side-netting from a tight angle.

United coped well with the visitors' fleeting spells of pressure, and they got their reward 10 minutes before the break when Ameobi made a nuisance of himself inside the penalty area before toe-poking the ball across goal for Young to smash a clearance against Jenas and into the net.

Titus Bramble replaced the injured Hughes at the break with Andy O'Brien moving to right-back, but it was at the other end that much of the action was happening, and it took Perry's last-ditch intervention to prevent Darren Ambrose from collecting Robert's 51st-minute pass and a golden opportunity.

However, the visitors were back in the game within three minutes when United's re-shaped defence allowed Di Canio to find Paul Konchesky down the left and, when he crossed into the middle, Jensen arrived to fire home from close range.

United continued to enjoy the better of the possession, but with Curbishley's men having grown in confidence since their goal, they looked an ever greater threat on the break.

Ameobi wasted a glorious opportunity on 66 minutes when he ran on to Shearer's flick but mishit his left-foot volley.

Given, who had seconds earlier had to scurry across his goal to collect a header from Olivier Bernard, dived full length on 72 minutes to keep out Cartlon Cole's first-time shot after Jensen had again carved a path through the black and white shirts with embarrassing ease.

Newcastle needed their goalkeeper to be at his best again with 15 minutes remaining when he got down low to his left to tip Perry's goal-bound volley on to the post.

The defender was to experience misfortune once again a minute later when he was adjudged to have felled Robert in the box, and referee Mike Riley pointed to the spot.

Kiely too was out of luck when his superb save from Shearer's shot only suceeded in serving up the ball via the post for the United skipper to convert the rebound and restore a measure of calm at St James' Park.

Substitute Jonatan Johansson might have dragged his side back into again nine minutes from time, but saw his shot come back off the woodwork, and United managed to hang on.

Teams

Newcastle: Given, Hughes (Bramble 45), O'Brien, Woodgate, Bernard, Ambrose (Bowyer 79), Jenas, Speed, Robert, Ameobi, Shearer.

Subs Not Used: Harper, Chopra, Viana.

Goals: Shearer 2, Jenas 35, Shearer 77.

Charlton: Kiely, Young, Fortune, Perry, Hreidarsson (Powell 89), Kishishev (Johansson 67), Holland, Jensen, Konchesky, Di Canio, Cole (Bartlett 84).

Subs Not Used: Royce, Hughes.

Booked: Perry, Young.

Goals: Jensen 54.

Att: 51,847

Ref: M Riley (W Yorkshire).