Newcastle United have boosted their hopes of securing a top-four finish in the Premier League after thrashing West Ham United 5-1 at the London Stadium on Wednesday night.
Callum Wilson and Joelinton were both on the scoresheet inside the opening 12 minutes before Kurt Zouma pulled one back for the Hammers on the stroke of half time.
However, Wilson slotted home his second of the contest to restore the Magpies' two-goal cushion, before substitute Alexander Isak and Joelinton again both found the net in the final 10 minutes to wrap up a comprehensive victory over a defensively woeful West Ham outfit.
Newcastle have extended their winning run in the Premier League to four matches and remain third in the table, level on points with fourth-placed Manchester United, who beat Brentford 1-0 at Old Trafford.
As for West Ham, the pressure continues to mount on manager David Moyes as his side sit 15th in the table, hovering three places above the drop zone only by goal difference.
Following an elaborate lights show moments before kickoff at the London Stadium, West Ham came flying out the blocks and almost found themselves in front after just 40 seconds when Jarrod Bowen's low cross from the right was directed onto the post by the outstretched Bruno Guimaraes inside a crowded penalty area.
However, just four minutes later, Newcastle burst West Ham's bubbles and opened the scoring courtesy of a glancing header from Wilson, who met a perfectly-weighted delivery from Allan Saint-Maximin before celebrating with the Macarena dance.
Newcastle then made the net ripple again on the 12-minute mark when Joelinton ran in behind before rounding Lukasz Fabianski and rolling the ball into an empty net; the Brazilian was initially ruled offside but VAR intervened to award the goal, with Emerson Palmieri keeping the Magpies midfielder onside.
Nick Pope was called into action just before the half-hour mark as he stretched to his right to tip a curling free kick from Lucas Paqueta round the post for a corner, before Fabianski at the other end intercepted with a strong left arm to prevent Wilson from getting a shot away inside the area.
A West Ham goal was required to lift the subdued atmosphere inside the London Stadium, and the home supporters were granted their wish five minutes before the break when Zouma rose at the back post to nod home a free header from Bowen's out-swinging corner.
The Hammers finished the first half strongly, but they made the worst possible start to the second half, with Nayef Aguerd caught in possession on the edge of his penalty area by Jacob Murphy, who cut the ball back to Wilson to tap home Newcastle's third just 22 seconds after the restart.
Wilson, who came off the bench to score in Newcastle's 2-0 win over Man United last weekend, has now scored 12 Premier League goals in 13 games against West Ham, at least six more than against any other team in his career.
Newcastle came close to adding a fourth 10 minutes into the second half when a free-flowing counter-attack involving Saint-Maximin, Joelinton and Murphy resulted in the latter bending a shot that was beaten away by Fabianski before Thilo Kehrer slid in to block the rebound from Joelinton.
As many as seven substitutions between the two teams were made all at once shortly after the hour mark, and two of Newcastle's three replacements – Anthony Gordon and Joe Willock – quickly combined, with the latter's shot inside the penalty box blocked by Aguerd, before Guimaraes fired a shot narrowly wide of the post.
The quartet of Hammers substitutions, meanwhile, were unable to change the dynamic of the contest, and several home supporters decided they had seen enough as they left in their droves with 10 minutes remaining.
As many were heading for the exits, Newcastle rubbed salt into West Ham's wounds by netting a fourth in the 82nd minute, thanks to a calamitous mistake from Fabianski.
After rushing out of his penalty area, the Polish goalkeeper miscontrolled a bouncing ball over the top of West Ham's backline, teeing up substitute Isak to lift the ball into an empty net from around 35 yards out.
Joelinton then wrapped up a terrific night for the Toon Army in stoppage time with a powerful left-footed strike across the face of goal and into the bottom-right corner.
West Ham's sloppy defending was largely to blame for their latest setback, but Newcastle deserve all the plaudits that come their way for their ruthless showing in the final third.
Moyes and co will now turn their attention to Saturday's clash against Fulham at Craven Cottage, while the Magpies – who are yet to lose a league game in the capital this season – will also travel to West London to take on Brentford. body check tags ::
