West Ham United have cruised to a 2-0 win over a lacklustre Newcastle United side in Monday night's Premier League clash at Upton Park.
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The hosts took the lead after just nine minutes when Mark Noble squared the ball to Dimitri Payet, who finished off by lashing the ball past Tim Krul into the top right corner from the edge of the box.
Steve McClaren's charges then came within a whisker of equalising in the 20th minute through Daryl Janmaat, who was put clean through on goal with just Darren Randolph to beat, but the goalkeeper pulled off a smart save with his legs.
Moments later, Georginio Wijnaldum got the ball on the edge of the box and blazed a first-time shot over the bar, the Hammers then countering through an equally overshot Manuel Lanzini effort.
Massadio Haidara was next to try his luck from distance as he shanked his effort over in the 27th minute, with neither side able to truly threaten the opposition's final third aside from Payet's goal.
There was a late flurry of action in the first half as Victor Moses combined well with Payet to slice through the Magpies defence and bear down on goal, but his angled shot flew wide.
The Magpies were undone shortly after the restart through Payet's second of the match, with Moses doing the groundwork by racing clear of the visiting defenders and rifling against the post before the Frenchman buried the rebound.
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An increasingly demoralised Newcastle went through the motions for a period of time but came close to pulling a goal back 66 minutes in, when Janmaat's low shot following Moussa Sissoko's cutback was parried wide by Randolph.
Three minutes later a West Ham free kick gifted by Ayoze Perez nearly led to a third for the hosts, but Aaron Cresswell curled the ball inches wide of the post and into the side netting.
The Magpies finally began showing urgency in the latter stages of the game as Siem de Jong turned on the edge of the box and fired a shot which took a deflection and was turned over the bar by Randolph.
As was the case throughout the earlier stages of the game, this was usually followed by a dangerous Hammers attack, only Krul standing between Diafra Sakho's shot and a third goal for the hosts.
Ultimately it was a comfortable end to the game for Slaven Bilic's side, who climb to fifth in the Premier League table with nine points from five games, while Newcastle's poor start continues as they slip to the foot of the division with just two points.
Giuseppe Labellarte
