The 27-year Senegal international claimed three points with his ninth goal of an indifferent season by his standards to complete a comeback which eased the Magpies into 13th place in the Barclays Premier League table.
Newcastle are now level on points with Fulham in 10th and, perhaps more importantly, nine clear of the relegation zone.
However, Cisse's strike two minutes into stoppage time came at the end of a game during which he had previously made little impact until his instincts took over.
Pardew said: "Papiss, I think, would be the first to tell you he was awful. He didn't do anything, really, to influence other than doing well on some defensive issues for us.
"But then the moment comes. It's an eye-of-the-needle pass from [substitute Sylvain] Marveaux, which he has [in his game]. The ball pops up and most strikers would snatch at that.
"But he let it come all the way down and finished it and in the 92nd minute, that's not easy to do, trust me."
