When the floodlights were turned on in the second half it seemed almost unnecessary. This was less to do with dusk still being some way off than the sense that Miguel Almirón already appeared to have flicked a switch and illuminated the entire stadium.

Admittedly, he missed a few chances and Huddersfield did play most of the match with 10 men but the Paraguay playmaker’s home debut proved little short of electrifying. When he was replaced by Christian Atsu in the 80th minute it was to a standing ovation with Atsu’s enthusiastic clapping as he waited to come on amusing the fourth official, Martin Atkinson.

If everyone could see why Rafael Benítez was so anxious to transport Almirón from Atlanta and make him a club-record £21m signing, Salomón Rondón arguably enjoyed an even better afternoon. The Venezuela centre-forward, borrowed from West Brom, was simply superb, unhinging Huddersfield’s defence and exacerbating Jan Siewert’s already intense relegation worries as he reduced Newcastle’s own fears of the drop by scoring their first goal and helping create the second for Ayoze Pérez.

“We needed to win and I’m very pleased with the performance,” said Benítez. “Almirón did well. He was very dynamic, he plays between the lines and he will get better.”

The man of the moment had begun by bewitching Newcastle fans and bewildering Huddersfield in almost equal measure. In the course of one early cameo his quick feet and even faster brain swept him beyond a clutch of markers before he audaciously dinked the ball over the advancing Jonas Lössl and on to the post. From the rebound, Rondón also struck the woodwork.

Salomón Rondón celebrates after giving Newcastle the lead early in the second half. Photograph: Scott Heppell/Reuters

Deployed on the left of Benítez’s 5-4-1 formation, Almirón was impressing. In a crude attempt to recalibrate the power balance, Tommy Smith reacted to the new boy toeing the ball away by lunging into a reckless, potentially leg-breaking challenge that Huddersfield’s captain had no hope of winning.

With Almirón left crumpled and motionless on the turf, Kevin Friend had no hesitation in showing the right-back a red card and, with 20 minutes gone, the visitors were very much up against it.

As Smith headed down the tunnel, Newcastle’s record signing rose, gingerly but mercifully intact, from the ground following prolonged treatment.

If the home fans – not to mention Benítez – feared a clattering that left Almirón’s sock torn by the defender’s studs might send this deceptively frail looking figure retreating into his shell, they were very wrong. Instead, there was zero indication of the already hallmark rapid change of pace, sublime left foot and repertoire of tricks being inhibited by intimidation.

Chris Löwe rescued Lössl courtesy of a late interception after the goalkeeper seemed to have saved Almirón’s low, angled drive – dispatched after a smart swivel had wrong-footed two defenders – only to allow the ball to escape his grasp and very nearly trickle over the line.

Lössl atoned by expertly pushing Pérez’s shot over the bar before watching, relieved, as Rondón headed Sean Longstaff’s cross over the bar.

A local academy graduate, Longstaff’s tall, straight-backed running style is almost uncannily reminiscent of fellow Geordie Michael Carrick’s and the similarity does not end there. The accuracy, vision and efficiency of the 21 year-old’s passing explain why Longstaff – who hit the bar with a late, curving 25-yard shot – kept Jonjo Shelvey out of the team.

Shelvey would have relished delivering the long diagonal crossfield pass from Florian Lejeune that switched play and prompted Rondón’s 46th-minute goal.

With Huddersfield’s backline bamboozled, DeAndre Yedlin and Isaac Hayden – excellent alongside Longstaff in central midfield where that pair ensured Newcastle controlled the tempo – combined to cue up Rondón to nutmeg Lössl, the striker shooting through the keeper’s legs from eight yards.

Almirón (who else?) supplied the crucial left-wing, volleyed cross that prefaced the doubling of that advantage. As the ball arced into the area it was headed on by Yedlin, with Rondón getting a subsequent touch before Pérez’s right foot did the rest.

“The sending-off changed everything,” said a subdued Siewert whose side have collected one point from the last 14 games. “Almirón had a good game but we have to defend better.”