West Ham moved up to fifth in the Premier League as two Dimitri Payet goals sent Newcastle bottom, courtesy of a Man-of-the-Match performance by the Hammers’ Nigerian international Victor Moses.
Payet gave the hosts an early lead when he curled the ball past Tim Krul from the edge of the penalty area after Mark Noble’s low cross from the left wing.
The Frenchman grabbed his second with a rebound after Moses had hit the crossbar following a fine run, reports the BBC.
Newcastle struggled in attack and have scored only two goals this season, the lowest tally in the league.
The defeat leaves Steve McClaren without a league win since taking over at St James’ Park in the summer.
Newcastle have now won only three of 24 Premier League matches in 2015 and it was a routine win for West Ham, who picked up their first home league victory of the season.
Sloppy in possession and unimaginative in attack, the visitors offered little to please the fans who made the long journey from the north east.
Traffic chaos in east London meant the Newcastle players had to walk the last mile to the stadium – and within eight minutes they were behind.
It was a fine finish from Payet, but he was allowed too much time and space on the edge of the penalty area to shoot at goal unchallenged.
Moses made his Hammers debut after joining on loan from Chelsea on transfer deadline day and his pace and direct running was a constant threat to the Newcastle defence.
Playing high up on the left wing, Moses was the outlet as the Hammers were able to soak up Newcastle’s 61% possession before counter attacking in style.
This was evident for the second goal when, from a Newcastle free-kick near the West Ham penalty area, the ball ended up in their net less than 30 seconds later.
Moses used his strength and pace to run from inside his own half before his shot from 18 yards hit the underside of the crossbar, with Payet in the right place to finish the rebound. Winger Moses was substituted in the 88th minute as striker Andy Carroll made his first appearance since February following knee surgery.
