Swansea City came from behind to inflict a record seventh straight defeat on Newcastle United on Saturday, winning 3-2 on another day marked by protests at St James’ Park.

Ayoze Perez put the home side in front in the first half but Nelson Oliveira, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jack Cork turned the game around before Siem de Jong grabbed a late consolation for Newcastle.

The Magpies are now on their worst run of consecutive defeats in the history of the Premier League and have won just twice in 16 matches since John Carver replaced Alan Pardew as manager.

As a result, they are only five points clear of the relegation zone and have played a game more than north-east rivals Sunderland, who are 18th.

The nightmare prospect of the drop is therefore still a possibility for Newcastle, in contrast to Swansea, who remain eighth.

Last week’s home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur had been marked by a boycott by several thousand Newcastle fans and there were plenty of empty seats once again at St James’ Park on this occasion.

Many of those who did turn up opted to protest against the way owner Mike Ashley is running the club by standing up and brandishing red cards in the 34th minute, in reference to a reported fund of £34 million ($51.6m) that is sitting in the bank while the team stagnates on the park.

At that stage Newcastle were actually in front, Ayoze turning the ball into the net after Jordi Amat failed to deal with a Riviere cross from the left.

However, Swansea were back level just before half-time as Portuguese striker Oliveira headed in a corner, and they seized the lead shortly after the restart as Sigurdsson collected a Jefferson Montero cross and finished.

The Welsh side struck again in the 71st minute as Cork charged forward and found Oliveira before converting the cutback that followed.

They then held out to take the points and claim a third straight win in Newcastle after De Jong, on his first appearance since August, side-footed home at the back post three minutes from the end.