The Eagles made it three Premier League wins in a row as a Jean-Philippe Mateta brace at either end of the second-half capped a display of endeavour, industry and invention.
That was particularly impressive given that Newcastle had gone into the game having had eight days’ more rest in between matches heading into the encounter, with Hughes putting the win down to Palace’s collective work.
“[It was] the collective performance, not in ones and twos,” Hughes said, when asked to reflect on the win. "It was the whole team defending as a unit, and that's what the gaffer’s drilled into us over the six, seven weeks that he’s been with us. You can see it on the pitch, it's working.
“It’s hard to do it for 95, 100 minutes. I think we started really well in the first 30 minutes. We got caught out a couple of times just before half-time, but they've got quality players and a quality team, so they are going to hurt you on occasions, but we kept that to a minimum in the first-half.
“It was cagey in the second-half. I think that's natural when you're 1-0 up against a top team. Thankfully, we got the second goal to kill it off.
“[There was] relief as well to get a second late on! It kind of takes the stuffing out of them, because when there's one goal in it, any team can score on many occasions, so it was nice to get that late on and just put a bit of a gap between us.”
Hughes was, like so many of his teammates, excellent at both ends of the pitch, making three defensive blocks – more than any other player – two interceptions and two tackles, as well as completing two key passes (leading to shots) at the other end of the pitch.
One of those was the assist for Mateta’s second goal late on, with Hughes explaining: “He's shown his quality, and he's getting his rewards now for all the hard work he's putting in.
“We've got a quality front line, even on the bench. We've got strong players on the bench that can come in and affect the game, but he's been brilliant so far, so hopefully he can keep it up.”
As for his own form this season, Hughes joked: “There's been quite a few injuries, so we’ve not many players in my position!
“We've got such a strong squad, we all support each other. Like I said, we've had a lot of injuries throughout the season, and thankfully I've been able to play a bit more and I'm enjoying it.”
Hughes survived a penalty appeal in the second-half for a challenge on Sean Longstaff inside the box, but observed: “I've not seen it back. You've got to trust the VAR to look at it closely. I don't think there was enough in it. There was slight contact, but not enough to go down. The VAR obviously agreed with that.”
As for Palace’s three wins in a row, Hughes smiled: “It's hard to pinpoint it. There's a lot of small things that have been changed, but the quality has always been there. We are showing it now.
“The Premier League is so tough. Every single game, you get no easy games. You have to work hard and do the basics to get the rewards, and that's what we've been doing the last few games.”