HAS it been a good or bad week on Tyneside? Depends who you ask. From a purely football perspective, what matters is that Newcastle United are promoted and firmly back in the Championship title picture.

Forget about the mess with the HM Revenue and Customs for a moment, and what mattered to Rafael Benitez in South Wales is that the Magpies finished the week as they started it: with a win.

The second of those victories arrived against Cardiff City courtesy of two well taken goals after half-time from Christian Atsu, a sublime free-kick, and Isaac Hayden which sealed the points for Benitez’s boys.

Those strikes have closed the gap to leaders Brighton, who face Bristol City at the Amex this weekend, to a point and Newcastle could yet be lifting the same trophy they won in 2010 when they end their season in the second tier against Barnsley on Sunday week.

A Premier League return was what Benitez had in mind when he decided to stay on last summer and now, 12 months on, his focus over the next few weeks can centre on what will happen over the course of the next close-season.

He has a decent squad at his disposal, but rightly wants to see Mike Ashley invest around the £100m mark into it to make sure Newcastle don’t just slip back down again in a year’s time.

Victory over Preston on Monday may have secured automatic promotion to the Premier League, but what should have been an enjoyable week’s preparations for a trip to South Wales was far from that.

The sight of the HMRC officers at Newcastle’s training ground and St James’ Park on Wednesday, when managing director Lee Charnley was arrested for questioning and later released, had overshadowed finishing in the top two.

Charnley decided to stayaway from Cardiff to take a break, while investigations into suspected tax and national insurance fraud continue on both sides of the English Channel; with West Ham and Newcastle raided earlier this week.

Benitez has tried to focus on the football, and the final two matches of a productive campaign, particularly given the suspicions are centred on historic deals before his time at the club.

His main focus is the summer. He made five changes to the team which started against Preston, with skipper Jamaal Lascelles left out because of an unspecified injury, Matt Ritchie suspended and Jonjo Shelvey only named on the bench.

The absence of the three key men meant an open door for others to try to impress against a Bluebirds team sitting comfortable in mid-table, although it took Newcastle’s players until well after half an hour to get going.

There were a couple of early attacks which came to nothing, while Cardiff looked full of intent to try to stun a team destined for the top-flight again. They even had the ball in the net on two occasions, only for them both to be rightly ruled out.

Cardiff also had the better of the half chances in the opening spell. Aron Gunnarsson saw a low shot from distance held by Rob Elliot before Sean Morrison flicked Peter Whittingham’s corner over the line, only for it to be pulled back for a foul on Ciaran Clark.

Apart from a Hayden effort that curled over, Newcastle had to wait until the final quarter of an hour of the half to make an impression. It was during that spell, though, that they could count themselves unlucky not to score.

The best of the chances fell to DeAndre Yedlin, starting ahead of Vurnon Anita. Yedlin was picked out on the overlap down the right by Mohamed Diame but the American’s low shot was well thwarted by goalkeeper Allan McGregor.

There were a couple more before the break too. From an Atsu corner, Mbemba’s first time shot bounced up off the floor and over the bar before Clark headed a second chance over from six yards.

But Newcastle did gain the upperhand nine minutes after the restart. After Craig Noone had fluffed his lines from an unmarked position at one end, Atsu made sure he didn’t do the same at the other to break the deadlock.

The Ghana international earned the free-kick himself with his own run that drew a foul from Morrison. He still had it all to do from 19 yards, with the ball just sitting in the D, and yet he exquisitely curled over the wall and managed to find the top corner too.

That sparked scenes of celebration, with Newcastle’s fans’ regularly highlighting how they are set to swap places with Sunderland in the top-flight, among the 4,500 travelling fans and it was question of whether more would follow.

One did a further ten minutes later. Newcastle shifted play forward and then across the box, where Hayden took a touch and powered in a low drive from distance inside McGregor’s bottom right corner.

After that Newcastle, who even introduced former Swansea man Shelvey to seemingly wind up the Cardiff fans, sprayed the ball around with greater confidence and created more chances. Atsu went close from distance again.

Striker Kenneth Zohore will wonder how he didn’t pull one back with a fine header that would have made things interesting with 18 minutes remaining, but substitute Aleksandar Mitrovic had a couple of chances after that too to extend the lead.

The closing moments were more about the noise from the jovial away section than any incidents on the pitch. This was the best way to end a week of mixed fortunes.