Leeds United’s valiant, unbeaten run ended after seven matches, but they did not go gently into that good Newcastle night on Wednesday. This was a riotous, thrilling way to bring the curtain down on a five-and-a-half week spell which could come to define their entire season come May.

There have been stingy draws, a high-scoring draw and a couple of Elland Road hidings, but this was Daniel Farke’s Leeds unshackled, intoxicated, for good and bad, by the same icy Tyneside air which made Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle United sides so iconic. On a night which began with sad news about the St James’ Park legend’s cancer diagnosis, this game proved to be a fitting tribute.

Playing their fourth game in 10 days, Leeds went toe to toe with a Champions League outfit on their own patch, where Newcastle were unbeaten in 11 outings (including nine wins), and led three times, even taking a 3-2 advantage beyond the 90th minute. Those circumstances make the ultimate loss all the harder to stomach, but that pain cannot be allowed to poison the goodwill and confidence nurtured since the end of November.

Leeds were never going to remain unbeaten until the end of the season. A loss was always going to come and how Farke manages the bubble bursting will be key to ensuring the team does not flip too far the other way and begin stringing losses together.

Speaking during his post-match press conference, the manager felt emboldened by the way his team went down in Newcastle.

“Today, no words will help because everyone is disappointed and heartbroken,” he said. “I prefer, if such an unbeaten run comes to an end, it (ends) in this way, when we play top football, when we go down with flying flags instead of a performance that was not good enough or you had no chance (of winning).

“Tomorrow, we take many positives on it.”

The physical and psychological toll of such a defeat, at the end of a fourth match in 10 days and the longer unbeaten streak which had presumably stretched the players to their limits, may mean a break from the Premier League is welcome. This weekend’s trip to Derby County in the FA Cup will allow Farke to use fringe players like Sam Byram, Jack Harrison and Joel Piroe, while the league regulars can reset their minds and bodies.

Farke does not think his team needs such a reset: “No, we don’t have to reset because the performance was excellent. Mentality was excellent. Many top individual performances. There’s no need for a reset. I want to keep going exactly in this way.”

There are 10 days until the Fulham match, which gives Farke the space to insulate the feel-good factor which has pushed them eight points away from the relegation zone. Even with the three-point anguish of what could have been, Leeds remain closer to Brighton & Hove Albion in 11th than West Ham United in 18th.

Aaronson scored a brace against Newcastle (Stu Forster/Getty Images)