Newcastle United welcomed Wigan Athletic to St James' Park earlier this evening.
Both sides began the day just two points above the Premier League relegation zone, sitting 14th and 15th respectively.
The Magpies were without a win in their last seven matches in all competitions, while the Latics had not won at Newcastle in seven league visits.
Find out how the action unfolded below, with Sport Mole's blow-by-blow text coverage.
Newcastle starting XI: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini (c), Santon, Tiote, Anita, Cisse, Marveaux, Gutierrez, Ba
Newcastle substitutes: Harper, Tavernier, Ferguson, Bigirimana, Sammy Ameobi, Shola Ameobi, Ranger
The Magpies, who are missing Yohan Cabaye, Shola Ameobi (both groin), Steven Taylor, Hatem Ben Arfa (both hamstring) and Gabriel Obertan (toe) through injury, make just one change from Wednesday's 2-1 defeat at Stoke City - Sylvain Marveaux replaces the suspended James Perch.
Newcastle continue with their 4-2-3-1 formation, with Demba Ba leading the line in front of Marveaux, Papiss Cisse and Jonas Gutierrez.
Since Cisse arrived at Newcastle, the club have played 29 league games. During that period, he has scored 15 goals and Ba has netted nine. However, the pair have only scored in the same game on two occasions.
Wigan starting XI: Al Habsi, Stam, Boyce, Caldwell, Figueroa, Gomez, Jones, McCarthy, Beausejour, Di Santo, Kone
Wigan subs: Pollitt, McManaman, McArthur, Boselli, Fyvie, Lopez, Golobart
Latics boss Roberto Martinez has made just one change following his side's 2-0 defeat at Manchester City. Captain Gary Caldwell has passed a late fitness test and replaces Piscu in the heart of defence.
Newcastle kick off.
Tiote fizzes wide from 35 yards.
Beausejour is brought down by Tiote 30 yards from the Newcastle goal. The free kick is awarded but the Ivorian is fortunate to escape without a booking.
Wigan work the free kick short to Di Santo, whose curling effort is palmed behind by Krul for a corner.
Jones's corner is poor and headed clear by Simpson at the near post.
Corner to Wigan.
Another Jones set piece comes to nothing.
Tiote drives into the heart of the Latics box and wins a corner for the hosts, which comes to nothing.
PENALTY TO NEWCASTLE!
Ba plays the ball through the Cisse, who goes down under slight contact from Figueroa. Referee Mike Jones points to the spot and then shows the defender a straight RED CARD!
GOAL FOR NEWCASTLE! - Demba Ba - Newcastle United 1-0 Wigan Athletic
Ba takes a very short run-up and Al Habsi dives the right way, however the Senegalese's shot is perfectly placed and nestles in the bottom left corner.
Beausejour is shown a yellow card for dissent.
GOAL FOR NEWCASTLE! - Demba Ba - Newcastle United 2-0 Wigan Athletic
Santon cuts in from the left and unleashes a fierce effort from 30 yards, which Al Habsi pushes away into the path of Ba, who makes no mistake from nine yards.
Substitution for Wigan - James McArthur replaces Gomez.
Caldwell is rightly shown a yellow card for a late lunge on Ba.
Marveaux goes on a mazy run into the Wigan penalty area before shooting tamely at goal. Al Habsi makes a meal of what should have been a simple save. Corner to Newcastle.
Marveaux takes the corner himself, but it comes to nothing.
Let-off for Wigan! Already with a yellow card to his name, Caldwell slides in on Ba but misses both player and ball. The Latics skipper then deliberately pulls Ba to the ground. Wigan should be down to nine!
Miscontrol from Williamson gifts Wigan a corner.
The corner leads to a mini goalmouth scramble, during which there are unconvincing calls for handball by a number of Wigan players. Newcastle clear and breath a sigh of relief.
Half time: Newcastle United 2-0 Wigan Athletic
The stand-out incident during the opening 45 minutes was, without doubt, the penalty kick and red card awarded against Figueroa. Having looked at the replays a number of times, I believe that both decisions were correct.
Both managers make one change ahead of the second half. Gael Bigirimana replaces Tiote for Newcastle, while Adrian Lopez replaces Caldwell for Wigan.
Wigan get the game back underway.
The Latics have started the second half brightly, while Newcastle appear to have dropped a little deeper.
Santon is limping and seems to have injured his thigh.
Substitution for Newcastle. Shane Ferguson replaces the injured Santon.
Newcastle go close! Marveaux collects possession on the halfway line before embarking on a superb jinking run. He then slips the ball into the path of Bigirimana, who forces a decent parry out of Al Habsi. Cisse then tries to backheel the ball back across goal, but he takes a poor touch. Goal kick.
Anita plays a lofted 30-yard through ball into the path of Cisse, who volleys high and wide from the edge of the penalty area.
Anita speeds away down the right and wins a corner off the legs of Boyce.
Wigan clear the corner with ease and instantly launch a counter-attack. Di Santo's dangerous advances are halted by a strong-but-fair challenge by Ferguson.
Di Santo is shown a yellow card for dissent.
GOAL FOR NEWCASTLE! - Gael Bigirimana - Newcastle United 3-0 Wigan Athletic
Great goal from the Burundi-born 19-year-old! He collects the ball from Cisse 30 yards from goal with an excellent first touch. He then cuts inside onto his 'weaker' left foot before letting fly into the top corner. What a way to score your first goal as a professional footballer.
Substitution for Newcastle. Sammy Ameobi replaces Gutierrez, who has had a very quiet evening.
Ameobi, who has been on the pitch for less than a minute, crashes into Stam and is rightly issued with a yellow card.
Wigan seem to have accepted defeat and this is now a damage limitation exercise for the Latics.
Substitution for Wigan. Callum McManaman replaces Di Santo.
Awful communication between Ba and Cisse. Ba breaks away down the right and has Cisse unmarked in the middle. Cisse fails to check his run and is caught two yards offside when the ball eventually comes in. It should have been 4-0.
Ba is down holding his chest. He is not going to have the chance to complete his hat-trick. Instead, he is going to limp off the field and Newcastle will finish the match with 10 men.
The fourth official indicates that there will be a minimum of four minutes added time.
Ameobi drags a left-footed shot wide from 20 yards.
Full-time: Newcastle United 3-0 Wigan Athletic
Newcastle end their seven-match unbeaten run. They remain 14th in the table, but move five points clear of the drop zone. Meanwhile, Wigan drop a place to 16th.
That concludes our live coverage for tonight. Thanks for joining Sports Mole.
