Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka scored as West Ham secured an impressive win at Newcastle to ease the pressure on manager Julen Lopetegui.
The Spanish coach replaced David Moyes in the summer but had endured a difficult start with just three wins from the Hammers’ first 11 games.
But this eye-catching result will go a long way to providing hope to the club’s supporters that he is capable of turning things around.
Newcastle were the better side for large periods but fell behind when Soucek headed home from a corner in the first half.
Anthony Gordon should have equalised when he was gifted a shooting chance by a poor clearance from Jean-Clair Todibo, but fired straight at Lukasz Fabianski.
Alexander Isak also had a great opportunity to score just before the break when he was picked out unmarked inside the box by Bruno Guimaraes’ excellent ball, but he thundered his shot wide.
The visitors soaked up the pressure and got the crucial second eight minutes into the second half when Wan-Bissaka drove a shot in off the far post for his first West Ham goal.
The Hammers finished strongly to comfortably see out a win that moves them six points clear of the relegation zone. They are 14th and now just three points off the top 10.
Newcastle, meanwhile, are 10th and four points off the top four.
