Jonjo Shelvey scored for Newcastle in the 75th minute and their defence managed to keep Leeds at bay to get their only second win of the season in the Premier League.
Newcastle have been notoriously porous at the back and have dropped 20 points from winning positions in the Premier League in the ongoing campaign.
The win still did not take them out of the relegation zone, but Howe believes the three points were important given the fact that his side have been regularly giving up winning positions this season.
He believes an important psychological barrier was crossed and feels it could end up as the turning point of their floundering league campaign.
Howe, asked by NUTV, about how big holding on to a lead could be psychologically, said: “Hopefully it will prove to be a turning point for us and it was really important. Upon getting the lead we were looking to add to it and we could have done as well.
“It wasn’t a 1-0 backs to the wall necessarily, it was a 1-0, trying to make it two and the positive approach really pleased me once we scored.
“I don’t want to say that we’ve cracked anything, but it was something we discussed, we want to try to score the second goal and win the game that way rather than be content with what we have.”
Norwich’s win on Friday night kept them above the relegation zone but Newcastle are just a point behind them and will now be looking to kick on with strengthening their squad before the transfer window shuts.
