AYOZE PEREZ has scored some notable goals for Newcastle United.

There were the winners over Tottenham and Liverpool in his first season on Tyneside, the last-gasp strike that secured a 2-1 win at Brighton towards the end of the promotion season, and the composed finish that sealed an away win at Stoke during the current campaign.

The Spaniard might not score a lot of goals, but when he finds the back of the net it tends to be significant.

Saturday’s 80th-minute winner against Huddersfield was hardly his best finish. Eight yards out as Kenedy squared the ball across the area, he simply had to thrust out his foot to prod past a helpless Jonas Lossl. For all that it came late in the day, it was not his most dramatic success either. Last February’s finish at the Amex takes that prize.

In terms of importance, though, the 30th goal of Perez’s Newcastle career immediately goes to the top of the pile. With seven games remaining, Saturday’s victory leaves the Magpies seven points clear of the relegation zone, a tally that is effectively eight given the club’s markedly superior goal difference to that of any of their rivals. The job isn’t done yet, but with 35 points on the board, survival is surely now just one more win away.

“This is one of my best moments at Newcastle,” said a beaming Perez as he reflected on his match-winning strike, long after the last euphoric fan had filed out of a deserted St James’ Park. “It has to be.

“Coming up from the Championship, the first season is always really tough, and we’ve been working really hard and playing as a team and finally put ourselves in a great position. This kind of goal, this kind of situation, means a lot to me. It’s really enjoyable.

“It’s a great feeling. I can’t really explain it, but it’s amazing. It’s three great points for us, and really important. This game was crucial for us – one of the most important of the season – and we got the victory.

“We’re seven points clear of the bottom three, which is a great distance, but there are still games to play and we have to keep going. Nobody in the dressing room is saying that we’re safe, but this is a big step. We’re close – really, really close – and we know that and it’s a good feeling, but the job is not done.”

In many ways, Perez is the perfect embodiment of the way Newcastle have set about securing their Premier League survival this season. The Spaniard has his detractors – too lightweight, not clinical enough inside the penalty area – but it is impossible to argue with the quality of the performances he has delivered this term.

Like a number of his team-mates, he has improved markedly for working under Rafael Benitez, and of all the plaudits that are rightly being showered on the Magpies manager, perhaps the most significant achievement is the way in which the Spaniard has developed so many of the players at his disposal.

From DeAndre Yedlin, Paul Dummett and Jamaal Lascelles in the back four, through the unrecognisable Mo Diame at the heart of midfield, to Perez and a reborn Dwight Gayle in attack, so many of Newcastle’s players have raised their performance levels during the course of this season.

That is testament to their willingness to learn and soak up the coaching they are receiving, but it is also a huge feather in the cap of Benitez, who is extracting the absolute maximum from a group of players that have no right to be challenging for a place in the top half of the table. Sean Dyche is rightly being lauded for his work with Burnley; Benitez’s achievements at Newcastle are every bit as impressive.

On Saturday, the Magpies will travel to Leicester City, the venue for Benitez’s first match in charge of the club a little over two years ago. The side he will take to the King Power Stadium in five days’ time is unrecognisable from the one he inherited from Steve McClaren – less talented on paper perhaps, but infinitely superior in terms of spirit, organisation and the dedication that is required to survive in the top-flight.

“A lot of things have changed in those two years, and you can see the difference in the situation straight away,” said Perez, who is one of only four surviving members from the side that started Benitez’s first game in charge. “I would say that back then, we probably had a better squad. We had a lot of very good players, but in the end we were relegated.

“This season is different, and a lot of that is down to him (Benitez). Since he came, he has been massive for all of us. We try our best in every game, and play as a team. That’s it really. I think we are picking up what we deserve.”

It sounds deceptively simple, but nurturing that level of togetherness and shared commitment is a difficult art. Benitez has mastered it, and once again on Saturday, he also got his tactics spot on against a side set up to try to make life difficult for the Magpies.

Having tried a number of different central-midfield pairings at the turn of the year, Benitez has settled on Diame and Jonjo Shelvey as his preferred partnership, and the pair have complemented each other perfectly in the last few games.

Diame has been a player reborn in the last couple of months, snapping away tigerishly, driving from box to box and enabling Shelvey to drop into the pockets of space that allow him to fire his trademark long-range passes over the opposition defence.

He delivered two such balls in the first half against Huddersfield, and had Gayle displayed more composure, Newcastle might well have been out of sight at the interval. As it was, the best chance was spurned when Gayle chipped wide of the left-hand post after Shelvey’s razor-sharp quick free-kick sent him clear of the Terriers defence.

Newcastle’s number nine wasted another opportunity when he drilled DeAndre Yedlin’s right-wing centre over the crossbar shortly before the break, and having dominated the opening 45 minutes, the Magpies found themselves pegged back as Huddersfield threatened to rally in the second half.

Martin Dubrvaka was never really threatened, but a goalless draw looked likely until the deadlock was finally broken with ten minutes left.

Lossl flapped at Christian Atsu’s cross, palming the ball to Kenedy. The Brazilian had showcased his finishing skills in the previous home game against Southampton, but this time it was his composure that came to the fore as he intelligently rolled the ball across the box for Perez to score.