Cancer survivor Gutierrez stars as Newcastle beat drop

LONDON (Reuters) - As if staying in the Premier League was not emotional enough for Newcastle United, there was the added fairytale of cancer survivor Jonas Gutierrez scoring his first goal of the season.

(Reuters)

Gutierrez -- who was undergoing treatment for testicular cancer in the early months of the campaign and only returned to the squad in March -- netted the second goal in a 2-0 home win against West Ham United.

His strike, with fives minutes remaining, sparked wild celebrations in the stands and saw the Argentine sprint bare-chested to the touchline to embrace manager John Carver.

Newcastle, whose residents are known as Geordies, would have stayed up anyway on the final day with Hull City going down after only drawing 0-0 with Manchester United. But the romance remained.

"I didn't know if I would play football again," Gutierrez told Sky Sports shortly after the final whistle.

"I'm here, I'm back, I'm proud to be a Geordie and it was fantastic to get the win here."

The Argentine had helped send previously beleaguered Newcastle on their way to a famous victory, setting up Moussa Sissoko for the opening goal on 54 minutes.

(Reporting by Douglas Beattie; editing by Mark Meadows; [e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging:; [e-mail])