SWANSEA, October 4, 2014 (AFP) – Beleaguered Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was given a lifeline as Papiss Cisse’s double rescued a 2-2 draw against Swansea on Saturday.

Pardew has faced repeated calls for his sacking from Newcastle fans angry at their club’s slump into the Premier League relegation zone and he could ill-afford a defeat in south Wales as he battled to hold onto his job.

For long periods it looked as though Pardew would be pushed closer to the exit as Swansea went ahead through Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony’s first goal of the season and then regained the lead through Wayne Routledge’s second half strike.

That would have been an especially painful way to lose for Pardew, who sold Routledge to Swansea in August 2011.

But with Newcastle owner Mike Ashley watching on, Senegal striker Cisse, who had already cancelled out Bony’s opener, struck again with 15 minutes remaining to secure Newcastle’s fourth point of the season.

Pardew is hardly out of trouble yet, given Newcastle remain in the relegation zone and have now won only one of their last 15 league matches.

At least he could reflect on a gamble that paid off with Cisse, who marked his first start since returning from a fractured patella by taking his goal tally for the season to four in three games.

There was little to encourage Pardew during a tepid start from his team and they were behind as Bony struck in the 17th minute.

Bony started and finished the move as he laid the ball off to Gylfi Sigurdsson before surging into space.

The return pass from Sigurdsson was perfectly weighted and, with Newcastle’s centre-backs reacting too slowly, Bony slipped a simple side-foot finish past Tim Krul.

– ‘Sacked in the morning’ –

Inevitably the goal meant Pardew was subjected to more chants of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ from disillusioned Newcastle fans, who also held up banners calling for the manager’s dismissal.

Swansea were inches away from a second goal when Nathan Dyer got past Paul Dummett and picked out Bony, whose volley was superbly pushed around the post by Krul.

But Newcastle snatched an equaliser against the run of play two minutes before half-time.

It was a goal that rewarded Pardew’s pre-match changes as French winger Gabriel Obertan whipped over a teasing cross towards Cisse at the near post, where the Magpies striker poked a close-range finish beyond Lukasz Fabianski.

Many of Newcastle’s players ran over to Pardew to celebrate with their manager, but they were behind again five minutes into the second half.

Newcastle’s defensive deficiencies were exposed as Routledge burst into the area unchecked to convert Sigurdsson’s pass with a cool chipped finish.

Krul made a brilliant stop to deny Bony soon after and that proved a vital moment when Newcastle equalised in the 75th minute.

Magpies substitute Sammy Ameobi was the catalyst as he whipped over a teasing cross into the six-yard box and Cisse was on hand to turn the ball past Fabianski.

It could have been even better for Pardew in the closing stages, but Emmanuel Riviere shot straight at Swansea defender Ashley Williams and Cisse put the rebound over.