The Magpies looked set to leave Manchester empty-handed for a second successive week when Javier Hernandez pounced (49) but Ba snatched a gift from the spot (64) as a punished Rio Ferdinand and his team-mates fumed.
Alan Pardew's side were as industrious against the red half of the city as they were against the blue but that would have been in vain were it not for the linesman's mistake and Tim Krul's stunning show in goal.
Krul denied Ryan Giggs to take his side to half-time deservedly still in the hunt, but Hernandez broke the deadlock soon after, though he knew little about the loose ball that bounced off his leg.
When Ashley Young fired wide moments later, United's gear looked to have clunked into place, but Ferdinand was wrongly ruled to have caught Hatem Ben Arfa and Ba stepped up gleefully.
Drama abounded as time elapsed but though Jonas Gutierrez's second yellow meant red (69), Newcastle's back-line stood impossibly firm, Hernandez denied by Danny Simpson on the line and then the flag in the final moments.
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