When your luck's out at the foot of the Premier League table, it truly is out, and West Ham found that out in brutal fashion inside five minutes.
An edgy London Stadium crowd were off their seats when Jarrod Bowen crashed an effort off the post at one end, but boos rang out just 26 seconds later when Newcastle countered and found the opener as Jacob Murphy arrowed an effort into the far corner from the edge of the area.
The mood in East London certainly wasn’t helped 15 minutes in when, after initially awarding a penalty after Bowen tumbled inside the area under a challenge from Malick Thiaw, referee Rob Jones overturned his initial decision after checking the pitchside monitor, adjudging that Thiaw got a touch on the ball first.
At no point were West Ham disgraced in the first half, putting in a polar opposite performance to that seen at Leeds a little over a week ago.
They sprang into life around the half-hour mark, twice forcing Nick Pope into action, as he first tipped Lucas Paqueta’s low free-kick onto the post before tipping Max Kilman’s header over the bar from the resulting corner.
Pressure was building on the Newcastle goal, and it eventually told shortly before HT when this time Paquetá got the better of Pope, sneaking home a 25-yard drive at Pope’s near post despite the ‘keeper getting a strong hand to it.
Newcastle responded strongly by twice testing Alphonse Areola through Anthony Gordon and Joelinton before the break, but in five minutes of stoppage time, the Hammers were finally the beneficiaries of a huge slice of luck.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross into the box was inviting, so much so that Sven Botman wildly lunged to block it at the near post and inadvertently turned the ball into his own net.
Eddie Howe reacted at HT by making a triple change, and although it did serve to get Newcastle on the front foot, they were lacking a spark in the final third.
In fact, it was his side picking the ball out the back of the net once more, a little over 20 minutes from time when Freddie Potts lashed home from close range, but his celebrations were cut short after Tomáš Souček had strayed offside in the build-up.
A raft of changes seemingly made Newcastle worse, as they looked incredibly blunt in attack, and West Ham looked relatively comfortable seeing the game out in the closing stages.
Perhaps with a midweek Champions League game in midweek at the back of their minds, Newcastle fizzled out in the closing stages and went down with a whimper.
Victory could prove key for West Ham, who now have some momentum ahead of a huge home clash with fellow strugglers Burnley next weekend and rounded off victory in perfect fashion with almost the last kick of the game as Souček added a third.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lucas Paqueta (West Ham United)
